My Guardian Angel
by AlphaWriter1
Summary: "You can't marry him just because you're afraid you don't have any other choice for your future!You can't give up opportunities you might have just for the first definite one to come along!" "Since when do you care about me?" "I've always cared, Berry."Noah Puckerman has always been there, on the sidelines, looking out for Rachel Berry-his Berry.And now she needs him more than ever
1. Chapter 1

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 1**

Noah Puckerman had always been there, looking out for Rachel Berry. He'd been doing that since they were younger, before they'd even started school. From the second they'd started school though, it had been clear he'd be needed to protect her from more than ways that could hurt her physically. From Rachel's first day of kindergarten, it had been clear that Puck would have to protect her from the bullies as well. As they got older, it got worse than him just glaring to get somebody to stop mid-insult. Instead, it started to get physical. And that was when Noah had finally become Puck. He couldn't stand seeing the tears well up in her beautiful, dark brown eyes. He couldn't stand seeing her nervously adjust her long, dark locks of hair. So, he'd decided to become her number one bully and mark her as _his _target.

From the first time he'd slushied her-starting that trend for every single jack ass in the school-it had become clear that Puck was the only person allowed to mess with Rachel. It had been clear from the first time David Karofsky had tossed a slushy in her face and Puck had pinned him to a locker. It had been clear when Azimio had cornered her in a hallway, tossing insults at her casually as she started to shrink to an even smaller size than she already was and Puck had dragged him away, giving him a swift punch to the face. Rachel had been marked as Puck's from that point on, and though nobody could quite understand the reason behind his desire to be her only bully, nobody bothered to question it. Because nobody messed with Noah Puckerman, after all.

He'd worked hard, defending her from Santana Lopez's constant attacks (_"Actually, I sort of like her.") _and Finn Hudson's heart breaking ways ("_Come on, walk with me,"). _And, of course, he'd been there when she'd found out about her mother, being the only one to really care-or notice-that she was missing from rehearsal (_"Wait-where's Rachel?") _And then there had been that jack ass of a boyfriend she'd found at the library. The one from Carmel back in sophomore year-Jesse St. James. Puck had tried countless times to spare her the heartbreak from that dick (_"If you cheated on me with that Jesse kid, your reputation would sky rocket,")_ but it had all been futile at the end. Jesse had broken her heart and shattered her soul, and Puck had not handled it well. ("_It is when the question's what's the best way to mess up that Jesse kid's face!")_._  
_

Still, that hadn't exactly been enough to keep her safe. While Puck had worked his ass off for most of his high school life to keep Rachel safe from harm-especially from heart breaking ass holes who just thought of her as another conquest-he'd failed her. He'd worked hard throughout high school, trying to protect her, and he'd thought that he'd done an excellent job at protecting her, but in all reality, he'd failed, and he just couldn't figure out why or how he'd failed. He was Noah Puckerman, the school's bad ass, who nobody messed with. And, Rachel's bullying had stopped over the last few years, once she'd joined Glee club, and he'd wanted to believe that that was because of him and his actions to keep her safe.

But he was wrong. The real reason behind her newfound safety at school was not because of Puck. And he would be fine with that if he could safely and honestly say that Rachel's bullying had ended because of a change in personality or a new wardrobe. If he would be able to handle it if Rachel was now safe because the school had realized how talented she was. If it had been caused by a new friendship with some new, popular people, he wouldn't really be too bothered. But, instead, her bullying had ended at the hands of some other boy. And that put his feathers in a tiff, because _he _was supposed to be Rachel Berry's guardian and protector. Yet, the real reason-the only reason-behind the end of her bullying that had been going on for years, was because of Finn Hudson.

Her new boyfriend. The boy who got everything. Finn, the jerk who had led Rachel on throughout sophomore year, while he was dating Quinn Fabray-who, contrary to all belief, Puck did _not _love-at the same time. Finn Hudson, the boy who had lied to her about being a virgin, when in reality, he'd slept with one of her biggest tormentors. Finn Hudson, the inconsiderate ass hole who had wrecked her after she'd been healed from the Jesse incident. Finn, who had stopped her from getting a new boyfriend, while he went on top be with another girl-the girl he would always pick over Rachel. Finn Hudson, who had only wanted her back when it was clear that she'd finally moved on and didn't want him anymore. When it was clear she was going to _go _somewhere in her life.

So, while Puck had managed to protect her from scraped and skinned knees during pre school and torn stockings throughout elementary school-while he'd been able to stop jerks who only liked girls for their bodies and their faces-and how much skin they were willing to show during school and how far they were willing to go after wards-while he'd stopped the jerks from treating her like shit because she wasn't a cheerleader or a member of a club that was deemed appropriate by them-Puck tended to wonder who made them the leaders of the social pyramid, but he'd never bothered to really ask-while he'd been the one to protect her from every little thing that could have possibly harmed her in her life, he had failed her in protecting her from her biggest enemy.

Herself. She loved too much. She fell for people too hard and too fast. Like Finn Hudson. She'd developed feelings for him, and as soon as he'd acted interested in her in response, she'd decided that she loved him. And, when he'd realized that she was going to manage bigger and better things than him in his life, he'd decided to take that chance from her. While getting her pregnant would ruin things for him if he decided last minute that he no longer wanted her and could do better, proposing to her was the perfect way to keep her from leaving Lima-from leaving him. So, he'd asked her to marry him. And when she hadn't said yes right away, Puck had figured that maybe she didn't need protecting from making a big mistake.

But now she was with him, standing by their lockers, with a wide smile on her face as she spoke to him animately. He was nodding, a confused, dopey grin on his face-that was the same smile that made Puck wonder what girls possibly saw in him. Puck stopped, standing a few feet away, listening to their conversation intently as she spoke about her feelings and her future. As she talked to him about things that didn't matter and were quite pointless. And Finn just kept on nodding, before finally blurting out that he needed her answer. THat he wanted to know what her answer was, and he wanted to know soon. And that was when Puck took a small step closer, zoning in on their conversation and hearing the single worst word of his life.

"Yes."


	2. Chapter 2

_**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 2**_

Puck was looking for Rachel. He needed to talk whatever crazy idea had been running through her head earlier that day when she'd told Finn Hudson _yes _to teenage marriage and throwing away her life. It was completely ridiculous and Puck refused to stand for it. He was going to...well, he wasn't sure _what _he was going to do, because he'd never thought Rachel would make a mistake that was so stupid in her life. After all, she was supposed to be _his _girl. He'd known her since...well, since she was born, practically. His mother and her fathers had been close, from the day they'd met at Temple when they'd first moved to Ohio. And, since Puck was six months older than Rachel, he'd been there when she'd been born. He was a baby, sure, but that didn't change the fact that he had dibs when it came to Rachel Berry.

He should have expected to find her in the auditorium. It was a little stupid of him not to look there, after all. It was the only place in that entire school where she'd ever felt one hundred percent comfortable with herself and who she was as a person. He wasn't sure why he hadn't looked there first, but, as that old saying goes, everything is always in the last place a person tries to look for it in. And, he picked that stage for his last spot to find her, right before Glee rehearsal during her last period free period. She was sitting there, with her hands folded in her lap, ankles crossed, as she stared down at her lap, singing a song that was one hundred percent _un-_Rachel Berry in each and every way. But, it was telling him something.

_"Baby, what do you say, we just get lost/Leave this one horse town like two rebels without a cause/I got people in Boston/Ain't your daddy still in Des Moines/We can pack up tomorrow/Tonight, let's flip a coin/Heads-Carolina, Tails-California/Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer/Up in the mountains, down by the ocean/Where it don't matter as long as we're going/Somewhere together-I've got a quarter/Heads-Carolina, Tails-California," _Rachel sang that old country song that Puck had on an old mix tape in his truck-if anybody ever laughed at his musical taste, he would kill them, not that it mattered what other people said about him, though. Just because it was rude, and Puck didn't take rude people very well.

_"We can load what we own in the back of a U-haul van/Couple modern day Moses' searching for the promised land/We can go four hundred miles before we stop for gas/We can drive for a day and then we'll take a look at the map/Heads Carolina, Tails California/SOmewhere greener, somewhere warmer/Up in the mountains, down by the ocean/Where it don't matter/As long as we're going somewhere together/I've got a quarter/Heads Carolina, Tails California/We're gonna get outta here if we gotta ride a greyhound bus/Boy, we're bound to outrun the bad luck that's tailin' us," _Rachel sang on, shaking her head as she slowly stood up, pacing back and forth around the edge of the stage, not realizing that anybody was there watching her.

"_Heads-Carolina, Tails-California/Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer/Up in the mountains, down by the ocean/Where? It don't matter as long as we're going somewhere together/I've got a quarter/Heads-Carolina, Tails-California/O-oh, California! Carolina! California!" _Rachel finished the song, shaking her head as she shrugged, sighing deeply before she dropped back down into a sad little ball on the ground, hugging her knees tightly to her chest, resting her chin on the top of them as her shoulders shook. And that was when Puck realized that he'd failed her as a guardian angel, because she'd said yes not out of love, but out of fear of being alone. Puck hadn't been there so that she knew she was loved by somebody other than her anchor, Finn, so she'd said yes.

And this song was not supposed to tell people that she couldn't wait to be in love with Finn Hudson for the rest of their lives, married to him, sleeping with him and living with him in some tiny little house in Lima while he ran a freaking tire shop and she wasted her talents away, teaching other people who would go on to pursue their own careers, despite the fact that they weren't as great as she was. And, while throwing her life away, she'd be raising little Finn-juniors, aging faster than she ever should have had to. That song was about a conversation she'd had with Puck during the end of their sophomore year, a few days after Regionals had taken place. A conversation that nobody but the two of them knew about.

* * *

_"Shelby was at the hospital. After you guys all got back from regionals, you know? She was there-I saw her, after I spotted Beth with all the other babies," Puck explained to Rachel as they were lying on the hood of his car on the overpass, right on the outskirts of town. It was in this location where Rachel and Puck could actually be fooled into thinking that they lived in a beautiful town. The overpass allowed the perfect view of the entire town, after all, and from way up there, their small little town in Ohio actually seemed to be...normal. It wasn't New York City or Los Angeles-one of her dream locations-and it wasn't Raleigh or Columbia-one of his dream spots. But it wasn't the ugly speck of nothing they liked to believe it was. _

_"I know," Rachel sighed. "She told me, at Regionals, when she was talking to me, that she didn't want a teenage daughter. She didn't want **me. **She wanted that little girl that she gave up, and then she asked where everybody was, and I told her that Quinn was in labor. She told me...when she asked what Quinn was going to do with the-I told her you guys were giving her up, and she said...she said she wanted her." Rachel said softly, and Puck could hear the tears beginning to fill her eyes. "She didn't want **me**-her own flesh and blood-but she wanted **Beth **because she was a baby. I wasn't good enough for her..."Rachel said softly, pushing herself into a sitting position as she wrapped her hands around her knees.  
_

_"I wasn't good enough for Quinn. She didn't want me to be the father, that was why she lied. It wasn't because she loved Finn, or because she thought that by some twist of fate that Finn could actually be the real father. It wasn't for any noble reason, like the immaculate conception or something like that. No, it was because she thought I was a Lima Loser and that me being the father of a baby that she wasn't even keeping, would make her trapped in this town forever. She didn't even ask me if I wanted to keep her...Beth, that is. And, you know what? I kind of did. I mean, I know that it was stupid, but I can't help but feel like my dad a little bit-being too young and just abandoning my own kid," He sighed, propping himself up on his elbows. _

_"You aren't a Lima Loser, Noah, and Quinn's just a bitch. I guess we've both been having some shitty lucky, though," Rachel said, swiping her hair from her face. Puck smirked. He loved this side of Rachel-the one who wasn't afraid to swear and who wore those tiny little shorts that barely counted as clothes with tight tee shirts or tank tops. When she was alone with him, she was a totally different person. She was somebody that he could actually see himself falling in love with-somebody he wouldn't mind being friends with at school. "What if we ran away? We've gotta be able to escape the bad luck that we keep getting tossed at us, if we go fast enough, you know?" She asked him turning her head slightly, her hair blowing loose around her face in the wind. _

_"We could load everything we own in the back of a U-haul. I'll drive," He said, playing along with her crazy little plan. "My dad's out in Des Moines-I know, who would ever assume I'd want to be with him, right? But, it's a start. And..well, you've got family out in Boston, don't you? We'll take off tomorrow-start packing up," He grinned at her as he laid back down against the warm metal of his truck, putting his arm over his eyes to block out the bright sunset that was before him. Their last day of school had been that day, and this was how they'd always spent their first summer night. This was just their first year with a car and somebody who was actually capable of-legally-driving them there, rather than their bikes. _

_"We'd be like a couple of modern day Moses, wouldn't be?" Rachel giggled. "Look for that promised land we were promised! What's your truck get? Think we could get four hundred miles before stopping for gas? We'll drive an entire day, and then look at our map. And then we'll figure the rest out," She was grinning brightly when he leaned up into a sitting position, his legs dangling from the truck as he stared at her in shock. This was the Rachel who took everything seriously and meant what she said. She actually wanted to run away with him-at least, in the heat of the moment, she did. "Driving might be stupid though, with the price of gas. But we've gotta get out of here, so what if we sold your truck and took a greyhound? Then we could get a car when we needed one," She went on. _

_"Rachel...where would we even go?" He asked. He didn't want to spoil her fun. He didn't want to ruin it by asking about Finn. He didn't want to ask her if she was really considering this and he didn't want to bring up what would happen after wards, if they actually ran away together. The rumors that would start to circulate afterwards. What could happen if they were caught. HE didn't want to bring up any of the problems that would be serious or could pause their plans. So, he asked a question that was safe-one that made him look like he was actually playing along, without making him seem to be taking it too seriously. Because, deep down, he wanted to know for a fact that she was serious about running away with him.  
_

_"Somewhere greener? Oh, I know! Somewhere warmer. We could go up in the mountains if you wanted to...or maybe down by the ocean? Where? It really doesn't matter, as long as we're taking off and going somewhere together, you know? I've got a quarter, okay? Let's flip a coin. Heads-Carolina. Tails? California." She said boldly, reaching into her pocket. He reached out and took her arm, stopping her. She frowned at him. "Well? What do you say? ME and you, running away like a couple of rebels without a cause?" She asked him, her eyes sparkling with that look that showed she was ready to stop being perfect and start being utterly **bad ass. **And it turned him on in ways that he shouldn't be by his best friend's girl. _

_"I think you're crazy," He shook his head, pulling on her arm so that she was brought into a laying position, right on top of him. "And you're ruining our tradition with this silly little conversation you're making me have about running away with you. Let's watch the sunset, alright? We'll sit back and relax together for a little while, and then-"He was cut off by her finger setting on his lips as she giggled and rolled from his stomach and onto her back, right besides him, her tiny little hand playing with his large, broad one in the way she always did when she was tired. "But, Berry? If you ever really do want to get away, just let me know, alright? Because I'm always going to be here for you, no matter what happens-we're best friends forever," He promised her, wrapping his hand around hers and basking in her smile for a few seconds longer than he should have.  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 3**

"Quinn!" Puck called, slowing his pace as he tried to match the tall, willowy blonde haired Cheerleader's strides. "Just the girl I was looking for," He winked at Quinn Fabray. "Listen, I know you and I aren't exactly friends and I know you don't give two shits about what happens to Rachel, but I know that you're still madly in love with Finn, and I also know how you feel about teenage marriages," He said quickly as she raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows at him, wondering what he could possibly want from her. "So, I'm just gonna lay this down for you, nice and simple. Finn asked Rachel to marry him yesterday, and she said yes," He explained, smirking as Quinn's reaction matched the exact one that he'd been expecting from her.

"What do you expect me to do about it?" She asked through clenched teeth, her perfectly manicured hands folding into tightly clenched fists as she glared at something far into the distance. "Rachel won't listen to anything I have to say-in fact, she'll thrive off of my jealousy, despite the fact that we happen to be sort of friends now. I made her life miserable all through high school, so I don't really see how me trying to stop the wedding is going to make her think I'm being friendly. And if I try to get to Finn, he'll tell Rachel and our some-what friendship is going to be tossed away. Anyways," She sighed, shaking her head as she paused, turning around and whispering to him in a low hiss of a voice. "Why do you even care about them?"

"That doesn't matter! Listen, you know what you have to do to get her to listen. She won't listen if you just talk to her, but if you were to sing something to her? That would make her see reason. Or, just sing a song that makes Finn see that you still care, and he'll come running back. Because he still wants you. He's settling for Rachel, and I'm not going to stand by as she throws her life away for a guy who doesn't even care about her. For a guy who doesn't think she's as amazing as she really is." Quinn raised her eyebrows and gave a little half smile as they started to walk again, matching one another stride for stride. "Okay, whatever-I'll admit it. I care about her, alright? But I'm not doing this for selfish reasons. I just want her to be happy," He defended himself.

"Listen, you don't have to make excuses for me. Let me see if I can get Santana and Brittany to help me. If _they're _telling Rachel that Finn's nothing but bad news, I'm sure she'll listen, because why else would they want to break the two of them up? Anyways, I've got a song in mind and I've been wanting to sing it for a while now. All you have to worry about is trying to figure out how the hell you're going to win her over, because Finn can work magic on a girl in a few seconds. It's something to do with that dopey smile and that innocent look he has in his eyes when he's all confused..."Quinn sighed, staring off into space as she focused on the tall boy that seemed to get every girl, which just didn't make sense. He wasn't even attractive-not a stud like Puck.

"Yeah, yeah-I get it. Finn's totally gorgeous and everybody loves him. Every girl in the school wants to be with him and all that shit. I get it! He's perfect and I'm nothing more than a Lima Loser. But, I already have what I need to do figured out. Besides, I'm pretty sure she's into me too-or, that she's got her doubts at least. It's...well, never mind, that's not important and it's a long story. Just, do me a favor? Try and figure everything out _before _glee today, because Finn said they're making the big announcement at the end of rehearsal." Puck shook his head, absolutely disgusted with the end of this conversation as he took a hurried step forward, heading towards his next class. Normally he skipped classes, but Rachel was in this class with him.

"Hey, Berry," Puck grinned, slipping into a seat next to her and glaring at Jacob Ben Isreal who whimpered and cringed before hurrying off to the other side of the room, taking a seat as far away from Rachel as physically possible, giving her a sad, lustful glance as she shook her head in disgust, smiling at Puck and giving him a soft spoken thank you before staring back towards the front of the room. "Hey, come on! I said hi, I showed up for class, I scared Jacob away, and I sat next to you! Can't I get a little love here?" He asked her, reaching over and removing her pencil from her fingers, causing her to roll her eyes and smile in an amused sort of way as she turned around to face him slightly, holding her hand out towards him.

"Give me my pencil back, Noah," She sighed. "I really need it, alright?" SHe asked, frowning down at the tiny little notebook she had in front of her, decorated with doodles and stickers. HE frowned as she folded her hands over it, covering it up and staring back ahead, choosing to ignore him rather than to argue. And she should have known that that wouldn't be the smartest bet with him, because he frowned, dropping her pencil on his desk and reaching back over towards her, snatching the book from her arms. "HEY! Noah! Give that back to me, alright? I really need it, okay?" She wondered, a sad, pleading look in her eyes as she turned back towards him, crossing her arms over her chest. Trying to fight for it would only result in her own failure.

"What is this?" He wondered, staring at the cover and frowning in disgust at the hearts she'd doodled with Finn's name in them. The stickers were all hearts and gold stars, but Finn's name written in hearts in her curly little script sickened him too much to notice the adorable way that Rachel Berry had decorated her own notebook. He flopped to the first page and frowned again. "Planning a party, Berry?" He asked, deciding to play stupid as he stared at her plans for the wedding. "It better be a better party than your last one-and I'm a little hurt that you haven't asked me for any help on it," He shrugged, shaking his head as he handed the book and the pencil back to her, smirking at her amazement at how civil he was acting.

"It's not a party. Well, I mean, it is a party, but it's not like it's some sort of high school party. It's not even a graduation party, Noah. It's...well, I'm not exactly supposed to tell people just yet. It's a secret...and Finn would be very angry if I told people before we agreed to make the announcement. But, well, you've probably already figured it all out, haven't you? And, besides that...well, we're sort of friends, aren't we? And you're Finn's best friend, aren't you? I think I can trust you-you've never given me a reason not to before." She babbled, and Puck decided to let her go. "Well, okay-I'll tell you, but you can't tell anybody!" She said, leaning closer to him. "Finn and I are engaged," She told him softly. And hearing the words from Rachel killed him more than saying them out loud himself.

* * *

"Mr. Shue? Is it alright if Santana, Brittany and I perform a number before you start the assignment?" Quinn Fabray asked as she and the other cheerios breezed into the room. Santana Lopez, the leggy Latino smirked as she whispered whatever song they'd picked into Brad, the piano player's ear. Brittany Pierce, the easily confused blonde took her spot besides Santana in the front of the room. Quinn just grinned as Mr. Shuester nodded, allowing Quinn to take the center of the performing area, giving Puck a wide grin and a small wink before the piano playing began and the girls started their song, their eyes locked on Finn, the whole reason for their imprompto performance that afternoon-well, besides Puck's pleading.

_"'Cause I'll be there in the back of your mind/From the day we met 'til you were making me cry/And it's just too bad you already had the best days/The best days of your life," _Brittany and Santana began together, their backs to the group as they glanced at Finn over their shoulders. They bounced in harmony, their hands resting on their tiny little hips, clad in their tiny red and white pleated mini skirts, as they moved to the beat. Then, as the two girls sang and Quinn remained silent, they turned around with the other blonde girl who was centered between them, slightly in front of them, on the final word of the introduction to their song. And that was when all the fun really began, amazing Puck with how thought out their performance was.

_"Ain't it a shame/A shame that every time you hear my name/Brought up in a casual conversation/YOu can't think straight/And ain't it sad/You can't forget about what we had/ Take a look at her and do you like what you see/Or do you wish it was me?" _Quinn wondered, leaning forward with her hand cupped thoughtfully on her chin before tossing her hands in the air, shaking her head before walking towards Finn, placing her hands on his shoulders before leaning down, bending into a double lunge and singing the words softly into his ear before popping up, turning around and leaning backwards, using the back of his chair as a balance beam on the final line of that verse, before she joined voices with SAntana and Brittany.

_"I'll be there in the back of your mind/From the day we met to the very last night/And it's just too bad/You already had the best days/The best days of your life," _The girls sang together as Quinn made her way back in front of Finn, standing right there in front of him with a confident smirk on her face as she stared directly at a goofily smiling Finn Hudson. Brittany and Santana stood in the front of the room, dancing as seductively as they possibly could without going against the style of the song and the words-and without causing a total riot with the teenage boys sitting in the room or breaking too many of the school's profanity rules. Puck was once again awed at how synchronized the two cheerleaders could be, without adding any work to it.

_"And does she know?" _Santana smirked, walking forward and bumping Quinn's hip, sending her twirling away from Finn as she took center stage, taking over the actual singing part of the song. _"Know about the times you used to hold me/Wrapped me in your arms and how you told me/I'd be the only one!" _Santana went on, wrapping her arms around herself and sliding them down her own arms before doing her cutesy, flirty little move where her hands rested on her thighs and she did a quick little double lunge before standing on her two feet again. Quinn made her way towards, twirling SAntana back towards the back as she once again took charge of the song. And Puck wondered just how long the blonde had been planning this.

_"I heard about/Yeah someone told me once when you were out/She went a little crazy/Ran her mouth abut me/Ain't jealousy funny?" _Quinn asked before Santana and Brittany's voices joined her for the chorus, all three girls circling in around Finn. _"'Cause I'll be there in the back of your mind/From the day we met to the very last night/And it's just too bad/You already had the best days/The best days of your-" _Santana and Brittany twirled away from Finn and Quinn as they stopped singing, allowing Quinn to continue the next verse on her own, dropping onto Finn's lap with the first word. _"Life with me was a fairy tale/I was head over heels til you threw away us/And it's just too bad you already had the best days/The best days of your life!" _

Quinn stood up and placed herself between Finn and Rachel, placing a hand on each of their shoulders as she went on with her solo. _"I heard you're gonna get married/Have a nice little family/Live out my dreams with someone new/But I've been told that a cheater is always a cheater/So I've got my pride and she's got you."_ SAntana and Brittany joined in with the next part of the song. "'Cause_ I'll be there in the back of your mind/from the day we met 'til you were making me cry/And it's just too bad you already had the best days of your life!" _They finished the final chorus together and Quinn went on by herself, dancing and twirling her way towards her seat, right on the other side of Finn as she concluded the song.

_"Oh your life! Oh, oh yeah-you're gonna think of me-you're gonna think of me in your life. Oh-oh yeah-it's a shame. It's a shame. It's a shame...it's a shame-it's a shame, it's a shame!" _She dropped onto her chair for the final note of the song, crossing her arms and her legs as she turned over and smirked right at Finn, giving him a cutesy little wave before shrugging and facing forwards, marveling in the shocked look that she was getting from Finn. She smiled a little bit more as Finn stood up, walking towards the front of the room, nodding for Rachel to come step towards him. And that was when Quinn's smile began to fade away. Puck's confident little smirk started to fade away as well as his face lost all of its color.

"Well, you guys-Rachel and I have some exciting news," Finn announced, wrapping an arm around Rachel's tiny little waist. Quinn cringed as she heard an excited little yelp come from Kurt Hummel in the seat behind her. She could practically hear Puck grind his teeth together as she tightened her own arms, wrapping them closer around her as she frowned at the sight ahead of her. "We've decided that, right after graduation, we're going to get married," He told everybody, a proud smile on his face as Rachel grinned her bright smile towards the group. And that was when all of the out roar began between the members of the glee club, as they all started to scream of their own opinions. The only peace came when Mr. Shue dismissed them-telling everybody their assignment was to sing their feelings to the couple.


	4. Chapter 4

** My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 4**

Puck had always been one to believe that children should not have to deal with their parents or concern the adult figures in their lives with their decisions. He typically never told his mom about any of his stupid choices in life-she didn't know about the cougars, for instance. And he would never go and rat out a fellow student-yet alone a friend-to their parents. That just wasn't his thing. Being a tattle tale was _not _bad ass. Nope, not at all-not one little bit. And that was why it was killing him to sit there in his parked truck outside of the Berry residence. He knew Rachel wasn't home-she was eating dinner at the Hudson-Hummel residence that night, to announce to Finn's parents their engagement-before Kurt snapped the gossip out.

He sighed as he opened the door to his truck and slid out onto the concrete of the driveway below him. He shook his head, muttering a few choice curse words about Finn and the entire situation that he'd been put into, and then started towards the house he knew so well, knocking on the door and waiting patiently for an answer. The whole time, he thought about how her fathers would react. LeRoy and Hiram absolutely hated Finn, and they didn't hide that fact from Rachel. Sure, they'd put on a nice-guy face whenever Finn was over, but it was no secret that they hated him. But, they wanted their daughter to be happy, which made it a little difficult for Puck to gauge just how they would react towards the news. But he did know that Rachel would kill him when she found out.

"Noah Puckerman!" Hiram Berry grinned happily as he opened the door. Typically, the tall and slim grey haired man hugged Puck whenever he came over. But, as Puck had gotten older and become colder and harder to reach, Hiram had learned that Puck didn't do hugs, just as nobody was allowed to call him Noah. The only exceptions to these rules were his mother, who he loved with all of his, his sister, who he'd do absolutely anything for, and Rachel, his girl. That was another thing LeRoy and Hiram had easily figured out about the boy. So, rather than hug him, Hiram stuck his hand out for a shake, looking quite shocked when Puck shook his head, laughing a little, and allowed a quick hug with the closest thing to a father he'd ever had.

"Hey, Mr. Berry-I hope you don't mind me just coming over like this and barging in. Especially at this time," Puck said sincerely. He was always polite at the Berry residence. He was always sweet and a perfect gentleman. Unlike Finn, who acted like his typical nervous and goofy self. He acted like some sort of jerk. "I know Rachel's not here, but I actually was hoping I could talk to you and Mr. Berry," He said. Despite the fact that Rachel's dads always told him to call them by their first names, he'd always make his greetings with mister, because that was just what he figured was the polite thing to do. Puck had never been one that was good with manners, but he tried, for Rachel's sake. He grinned as Hiram took a step back and allowed him into the house, closing the door behind him.

"Puck!" LeRoy announced, walking further into the room. LeRoy was the diva of the family, matched only by Rachel's own diva-like personality. It was funny, when the two of them were together and in a disagreement. "What brings you here tonight?" He asked, bringing Puck towards the living room where the three men sat down on the couches in the large room. Puck grinned, lowering his head. He always felt embarrassed when he came over to Rachel's house, because her dads fawned all over him and gave him attention for no reason. Just because they actually liked him. And Puck wasn't used to this attention from guys-his father had walked out on him, to raise another son, just as Rachel's mother had done to her-and he especially wasn't used to it from people outside of his own family.

"Well, I can't say it's good news. It's about Rachel and Finn, actually-don't get all pale LeRoy!" Puck laughed, watching as LeRoy's face contorted and his face started to grow pale. "She's not pregnant or anything like that," Puck promised and waited for LeRoy to relax before he continued, taking a deep breath before he started back up again. "They've decided that they want to get married at the end of the year. They're telling Finn's parents tonight and they already told the Glee Club..."Puck blurted out and instantly hated himself. That had not been his initial plan for telling them about it. "I wanted you guys to know, because I knew what you'd think of their-"He stopped when the front door opened and two shadows walked inside-one very short one, and another very tall one.

"Noah?" Rachel frowned, standing in the doorway to the living room. "Daddy, dad-what's Noah doing here? Noah, did we have plans or something?" Rachel asked, looking back and forth between her parents and Puck as Finn stood there like an idiot, his arm wrapped tightly around Rachel's waist. That was where Puck's eyes zoned right in on, glaring at the way his large hand cupped her hip as he pulled her closer to him. And that wasn't right, because it was supposed to be him standing there with Rachel. Not Finn. "You _told _them? Noah Puckerman I hate you!" Rachel snapped as she took in the angry and shocked looks on her fathers faces. "You _promised _not to tell anybody!" She said, pushing away from Finn and starting towards Puck.

"Rachel...what's going on here?" Hiram asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he frowned at his daughter. Rachel lowered her head. "Rachel Barbra Berry! Answer me right now-are you and Finn planning on getting married or did Puck misunderstand something?" He asked sternly, frowning at his daughter. Rachel gulped. She absolutely hated to disappoint her fathers. Puck actually felt a little guilty for ratting her out, but he needed to do something to stop her from ruining her life because of one stupid mistake. He refused to let Rachel throw her life away, and his first plan had failed. This was the only other option he had on what to do, and while it pained him to do, he knew that it was his last hope.

"He's right. Finn and I are engaged," Rachel said, noticing how her fathers cringed at the word, but not quite seeing how Puck flinched a little but at hearing her speak those fatale, deal sealing words for the second time in his life. For the second time that week. The second time that _day. _"And I don't care what you say," She said boldly. "Carol and Burt are on board with this entire arrangement, because they understand that I love Finn and that he loves me. If you and daddy can't be happy for me, then...well, I guess you won't be a part of my wedding. And as for _you, _Noah," Rachel frowned, turning towards the sheepish looking boy, who was silently cursing the fact that his second plan had always failed. "What did you have to gain by doing this?"

"I don't want you to throw your whole life away," Puck said honestly, deciding that that was really the only choice he had anymore. Rachel frowned, her eyebrows furrowing for a second before she grew angry. Before she could protest, he went on. "Rachel, my parents got married right outside of high school. They had me and he cheated on her. Then they had Ziska. But, when he cheated on her, he had another kid. Come on, you know this story, Rachie," He said, using his old nickname for her, trying to soften her up a little bit. "Rachie, please just...think about this. I don't want you to end up like my mom. I know, Finn's not like my dad, but...high school marriages? They end up that way most of the time," He whispered softly.

"Noah..."Rachel softened, taking a small step forward. "Noah...I..."She whispered, lowering her head as she realized how familiar this situation must be for him. She did know his parents' story, and she'd always sworn she'd never make any mistakes like that. She'd promised that she and Noah would never end up making those fatale mistakes-they'd take time for their relationships to mature before rushing into something like marriage. Yet, here she was. "Oh, No," She sighed, and everybody in that room knew that she wasn't saying it as in _oh no. _She was saying No-her old nickname for her best friend, because even though Noah was a name only a few could call him, it wasn't as meaningful as her own nickname for him.

"Rachel, what's going on right now? Are you actually listening to his bull shit?" Finn asked, speaking for the first time since arriving in the house. "Don't tell me you think Puck actually cares about you. He's an idiot and all he cares about is himself-I thought you knew that? Since when did he ever care about somebody who wasn't him?" Finn asked.

But Rachel knew that Finn was wrong. He was being a jerk. He was being an ass. And he was wrong. Puck had always been looking out for her. He'd been the one to help Kurt come up with that Barbra-Intervention to make her change her mind about her nose job. Puck had been the one to finally stop the slushy attacks. Puck had given her rides whenever she'd needed one. Puck had come to her defense against Jesse and Santana. Puck had gone to the anti-prom she'd wanted to have, and he wasn't going for silly reasons. He was going because he wanted to be with her. He was going because he agreed with her. Puck had never put anybody before her, but Finn? He'd put everybody before her, and she wasn't sure he would ever stop that.

"I...Finn, I don't think we should do this. I think...I think we both just need to think about it, alright? We shouldn't rush into this. If we love each other and we're meant to be, we can wait," She said softly.

"What the hell, Rach? You're listening to Puck? Since when does he-"

"Shut _up!" _Puck glared, turning around and glaring at Finn. "Stop saying that I don't care about her and that I put myself first. Name _one _time I've ever done that to Rachel? I let her break up with me because she wanted _you! _I stopped it when we were making out because I knew how she'd feel about hurting _you! _I sang that duet with her because she wanted to make _you _jealous. I stayed away from her because _you _wanted me to. The only time anybody's ever put themselves over Rachel was with _you! _God, you even have her putting herself behind you in her own life! Why don't you tell your dads where you were going after high school, Rachel? If you and Finn got married?" Puck asked, whirling back towards Rachel.

"Ohio State," Rachel whispered softly.

"She wasn't even going to worry about NYADA anymore. She was going to give up Broadway-her dream from when she was _five _to be with you, because you're too afraid to not be the big star-the big man on campus-anymore to leave Lima! She deserved better than that! She can do better than you!" Puck snapped.

"Like who? You?" Finn scoffed.

And that was all it took for PUck to snap, lunging forward and tackling Finn to the ground, ready to punch him before Rachel put a hand on his shoulder. Rachel had always been able to calm him with a simple touch.

"No," She responded, using that childhood nickname once again. "Remember, you still have another week before probation. You have to wait until a month after your eighteenth birthday, remember? One more week," She whispered softly.

"What the hell? Rachel-he's about to pound my face in and you're worried about him going to jail?" Finn asked as Puck stood up and walked away, trying to put as much space as possible between him and Finn. "You know what-figure out what you want, alright? And then let me know, because I'm not dealing with this," He snapped before turning around and storming out of the house.

Puck sighed, hating Rachel's sad face, but loving that his plan worked.

"Come on, Rachie," He sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Let's get you upstairs, alright? I'll pick you up for school tomorrow, if you want. And...do you think on Friday we could go to the overpass? We haven't been in a while, and I think we need to talk," He whispered. He could feel Rachel's nod and he smiled. "Alright, Legs," He said, their pre-teen nickname coming out now as she giggled and socked him playfully in the arm.


	5. Chapter 5

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 5**

Rachel Berry had the absolute worst night's sleep the night her fathers found out about her engagement. The night that her engagement had been released to pretty much anybody that mattered in her life. The night of her first fight with Finn, as an almost-married couple. The night that she and Puck got into their first actual fight in...well, their first fight ever. The sleep that she was having this night was filled with tossing and turning, and the nightmares she was having were even worse than the ones that Vocal Adrenaline had given her after the egging incident.

* * *

_Rachel was wearing a long, strapless white gown with a slender, heart-shaped neckline. The bodice was tight, hugging her into it in a tight, form sitting corset type style in a lacy, white material, before starting to poof at her waist into a long, netted hoop of material. It was a simple, ordinary, princess-styled wedding dress. Her hair was in an elegant french twist while her heels were similar to medieval torture chamber devices, sky high and full of straps and buckles. She was standing at the end of an aisle, by an alter. She looked beautiful, and she knew that she should be happy, but she couldn't help but feel as if something was missing. _

_Behind her stood Quinn Fabray in a long, pencil straight, one strap, hot pink dress with a long, slender slit up one side of it. She wore it with silver, strappy heels and her hair was done in the same fashion as Rachel's. Mercedes Jones, Tina Cohen-Chang, Santana Lopez, and Brittany Pierce were lined up besides Quinn, each in matching dresses with their hair down the exact same way. Kurt Hummel was at the end of the line in a hot pink suit with silver accents to it, his hair carefully styled. Standing on the other side of the alter, in a line, wearing grey suits, were Sam Evans, Mike Chang, Artie Abrams and Blainde Anderson. _

_The only two people who didn't happen to be there, were Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson. And Rachel was sure that whoever appeared at the alter was going to be the thing that determined whether this dream was happy or a dark, terrible nightmare. And, the sad part was, she couldn't honestly say that she wanted Finn to be the one to appear there. She couldn't say that he was the one she wanted, without a single doubt in her mind, because that would be lying. In all honesty, she just wasn't sure if she wanted Finn or if she wanted Puck. _

_She shook her head as a tall boy in a black suit appeared in the doorway to the church-she was confident that she was in a church, even though she couldn't see anything defining it as a church. The height didn't really matter, though, because most boys were tall in Rachel's eyes. Most girls were considered tall compared to Rachel. She sighed as she forced herself to stare at his face. Because looking at a muscled torso or broad shoulders wouldn't be as definite as if she stared at the face-at the hair-of the boy that was on his way down towards her. _

_She gulped as she took in the deep, hazel eyes that were so very deep as the boy walked closer to her. The deeply chiseled facial features that made so many girls swoon over him were there as well. The deep, dark, rich brown hair was wavy in just the right way. But the hair was too long. It wasn't shaved on two sides with a single strip down the center. And the dopey smile that was in place on the boy's face, the one that showed he was oblivious to everything around him, just gave her further proof that Noah Puckerman was not making his way towards her. _

* * *

Rachel woke up screaming, shooting forward in her bed with her hair matted to her face from the sweat as her face shone brightly with the cold liquid running down her face. Her sheets were tangled up around her legs and she was breathing deeply, her eyes opened wide as she reached for her nightstand, fumbling around in the dark until she found her cell phone, dialing in the number of the only person she trusted enough to help her. The only person who could really give her an answer that would help her figure anything out in her life. THe only person she knew who had once been in this situation and had made the right choice.

"Rachel? What do you want? What's the matter? You do realize that it's one in the morning, right? I hope you know that it's the middle of the night and you woke me up out of a sound sleep when you barely ever-Rachel? What's going on? I've been scolding you for a good minute and you haven't cut in or interrupted me. That's not the-oh my, god! Are you crying? Rachel? Come on, what's the matter? I'm not really mad, you know that. What's the matter?" Tina Cohen-Chang went from sounding tired and annoyed to being teasing, before becoming fully alert and worried.

"Noah told my dads about the engagement before Finn and I could, and he was still here when we got back home and they got into this huge fight-Finn and Noah-that is-but I broke it up, and Finn left all annoyed, telling me I needed to decide who I wanted and Noah was just so sweet and nice about the whole thing, and the thing is...I didn't even know I had a choice to make until tonight! I thought I just wanted Finn, but Noah had some really good points, and I'm not so sure I want to be with Finn anymore. Please, tell me you can help me?" Rachel asked, a slight edge of panic to her voice.

"Wait...Rachel, hold up. I'm a little confused here. Are we talking about Noah _Puckerman? _Because I don't think anybody-even Quinn-would describe him as s_weet. _But, besides that, there's a difference between Puck having good points against you and Finn getting married so young, and you having feelings in turn for Puck. You need to figure out which one of those two it is. And, also, besides that, why are you asking me for help?" Tina asked. She wasn't angry. She wasn't asking to be bitter or cruel or mean. She was asking because she was genuinely curious.

"Because you loved Artie. You were so positive that you loved him and wanted to be with him, and then something just...clicked, between you and Mike, and you had to make up your mind, because you didn't want to hurt Artie, but you didn't want to be unhappy yourself. But, at first, you must have been confused, right? You weren't sure which guy you were supposed to be with and that scared you, right? You didn't know what to do?" Rachel wondered, hoping she was right in calling Tina. Nobody had been sure how the girl had dealt with the Artie-Mike situation, but Rachel had assumed.

"Yeah...I did need to do some thinking about it, actually," Tina said, nodding. "I mean, Artie's a sweetheart, and I'll always love him. He was my first love, and you don't forget that," Tina shrugged. "But, I had to push aside my feelings when it came to my decision. I had to think about which guy made me _happy a_nd which guy I actually had fun with. Artie and I had fun, but things always felt forced and more friendly with us. With Mike? Everything just clicked. It was natural and I couldn't help but be happy, even when we weren't doing anything, you know?" Tina wondered.

"Yeah...I know what you mean." Rachel nodded. "I'm sorry to have woken you up, I was just freaking out about this whole thing. Thanks for helping me, though. You're a great friend, Tina, and I wish we'd gotten closer throughout the years. But, just promise me that we'll make these last few months together count?" Rachel asked. Tina agreed and the two said their goodbyes before hanging up, leaving Rachel to try and fall back asleep while she listened to her _Wicked _play list, willing herself to dream about the musical, rather than the two boys she had to pick from.

* * *

"Rachel? This song probably isn't going with the assignment Mr. Shue gave us in the traditional sense, but after the conversation we had last night, I really think it's fitting for it. Because, in all honesty, it's going to help answer those questions you asked me last night." Tina explained as she stood in the front of the room, her hands clasped behind her back as she smiled at Rachel, who was sitting between Kurt and Mercedes. Mike Chang, Tina's ever-supportive boyfriend, flashed her a wide, encouraging smile and a large thumbs up as the music began and the girl started to sing.

_"What if I told you it was all meant to be/Would you believe me, would you agree/It's almost that feeling that we've met before/So tell me that you don't think I'm crazy/When I tell you love has come and now/A moment like this/Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this/Some people search a life time for that one special kiss/Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me/SOme people wait a lifetime for a moment like this," _Tina sang out the American Idol, Kelly Clarkson hit song as Rachel sat there, her hands folded in her lap as she stared down at them, taking each word as seriously as possible.

A conversation between Puck and Rachel from freshman year, their final year at the over pass before they could drive, was recalled by the short girl as Tina sang that first verse and went through the chorus for the first time.

* * *

_"What if everything happens for a reason?" Puck blurted out, sitting on his bike as he squinted out towards the setting sun. "What if we don't have any control over anything, and it just all happens because it's meant to me?" He wondered, turning to face the girl sitting there besides him. _

_"What do you mean?" Rachel asked. _

_"I mean...what if our whole lives are already planned out, by something bigger than the both of us? I don't know...it's stupid, I guess," He shrugged, shaking his head._

_"It's not stupid, Noah," Rachel sighed. "I think...I get what you mean, and I guess I kind of believe, but I don't want to. It's too sad, thinking that we don't really get any say in our own lives? I don't think I could allow myself to feel that way. Maybe...do you ever get the feeling that you and I have met before, though? Like...not just before today, but like...do you believe in reincarnation?" Rachel asked softly. _

_"I think you're crazy, Berry, but that's okay, because I think I'm crazy too sometimes," He told her, ignoring her question, because it scared him too much to admit that he actually agreed with her. _

_"Do you believe in love?" She whispered._

_He didn't answer her. Instead, he stood up and walked towards her, kissing her-giving her her vert first kiss, right there on the overpass as the sun set over the town they both hated. And it was the best kiss that she could ever imagine having. It had a movie worthy scene and she just thought that that was what miracles were made out of. _

_She smiled, marveling in that perfect moment and wishing she could pause time forever and live in it forever, as he shrugged and went back to his bike, straddling it before announcing that he'd race her back to her house and taking off. She followed after him, trying to simply match his pace, as she wondered how on earth something as magical as this was happening to a girl as simple and ordinary as herself. It didn't line up. _

* * *

_"Everything changes but beauty remains/Something so tender I can't explain/Well I maybe dreaming, but till I awake/Can we make this dream last forever/And I'll cherish all the love we share/For a moment like this-some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this/ Some people search forever for that one special kiss/Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me/Some people wait a lifetime, for a moment like this," _She went on with the song, singing happily as she stood there, moving only her upper body with her performance, allowing the beat and the words to speak for themselves.

Rachel frowned down at her folded hands, glancing over at Puck from the corner of her eyes as another long forgotten and very secretive conversation from the over pass was remembered.

* * *

_"Everything's going to be different now, isn't it?" She asked. _

_Everybody in school knew that Puck was the father of Quinn's baby. Everybody knew that Rachel had been the one to tell Finn. Everybody knew that Puck and Finn had had an actual fist fight. Everybody knew that Finn and Quinn were no longer a couple, that Finn and Puck were no longer friends, and that Puck and Quinn were dating, solely out of Puck feeling responsible for the baby, without having any actual feelings towards Quinn. _

_"Everything's always changing. Wasn't that the reason we started coming out here? Because things always get different, but the beauty of this place never changes?" He asked her._

_He always managed to surprise her, when they were up at the over pass. He was no longer the residential bad ass. He was a sweet, caring guy who could be slightly poetic, when he really decided to set his heart to it. And it amazed Rachel every time she heard one of his strangely beautiful statements. The over pass was the one place where he truly shed his Puck exterior and allowed himself to be Noah for longer than a few rare moments. _

_"You have soft hands..."Puck said, taking her tiny, small hands in his own. "You've got really cute hands, you know that?" He asked her with a teasing smile on his face. _

_Sometimes, because of the unexplainable change in Puck's personality at the over pass, Rachel thought that she was simply dreaming and that it was all just a mere illusion. But, she decided that, until she was sure she was dreaming, she would make the dream as sweet as possible and try to make it last forever. _

_"You're with Quinn now," She rolled her eyes, taking her hand from his roughly._

_"Do you really think that she could step in and change what we have? Come on, that's something people search forever to find, and most people don't end up finding it. We've had it forever. I know you don't get what I mean yet, but you will, one day. And I'll be here when you figure it out," He promised her, their eyes locked. _

* * *

_"Could this be the greatest love of all/I wanna know that you will catch me when I fall/So let me tell you this/Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this/Some people wait a life time for a moment like this/SOme people search forever for that one special kiss/ Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me/Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this/Oh, like this, oh/I can't believe it's happening to me/Some people wait a lifetime/For a moment like this/Oh, like this," _Tina concluded the song, smiling up at Rachel who met her grin with one of her own.

And the final over pass memory came back to Rachel at that moment, making her realize exactly what she needed to do.

* * *

_"I don't love him," Rachel blurted out. It was cold, and she'd foolishly ridden her bike up to their meeting place in just one of her tiny skirts and a sweater. She'd come directly from school, leaving her jacket at home. "There's no way that this great love I thought I had with him could be real if it's just going to end so terribly and rotten. No, I don't love him. It's not possible that whatever we had could be love if it ended that way," She declared, her arms wrapped around her chest. _

_She hadn't expected Puck to follow her, but he had, riding in his truck, going as slowly as he possibly could in order to keep up with her slow-paced bicycle pedaling speed, spending the entire time trying to convince her to get into the truck and just talk to him. To allow him to bring her home, and then he'd leave and not bother her. But, she hadn't listened, and now she was here, cold, but not alone. She would never be alone as long as he was breathing. _

_"That's alright, not to love him. Not to be sure. You're young, and love is confusing. But, I want you to know something. I promise you that whenever you fall, I'll be there to catch you, alright?" He promised her, walking towards her slowly as he shrugged out of his warm, fur-lined leather jacket._

_The jacket was special to him, because it was the first thing he'd bought for himself-with the exception of his truck-with his pool cleaning money. It was the only thing-besides the truck-that he'd bought with that money. He was doing his best to save that money so he could get out of Lima. _

_He sighed as he wrapped it around Rachel's shoulders, smiling a bit as she wrapped it closer to her, smiling up at him in gratitude. That had been the last time he'd ever seen that jacket. _

_"I almost think I've figured out what you meant last year, about that bond you and I have? But, I'm not sure yet," She told him, as she finally gave in and followed him back to his truck. _

_"I meant what I said. Let me know when you've figured it out, and I'll be here, waiting," He told her._

_And it was clear to both of them that he still meant that promise and always had-and always would. _


	6. Chapter 6

**_My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 6_**

Rachel Berry had made her decision. She knew exactly who she wanted to be with. She'd made up her mind about what boy she belonged with, and which boy she was going to pick. She knew exactly what she had to do, now that she'd considered what Tina had had to say about her situation, and she was going to do just that. The only problem that she was finding with her plan, was that she just couldn't bring herself to break somebody's heart and change her mind, hurting one of the two boys. She couldn't actually bring herself to break up with Finn Hudson and call off the engagement that had just been made, to end up with Noah Puckerman, who might just not want to be with her once the chase was over.

She sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest, crossing her legs at her ankles as she sat in the choir room, by herself, debating what was next to happen to her. She shook her head as Kurt Hummel and Mercedes Jones came walking in, small, guilty smiles on their faces as they stood before her, by the piano, with their arms crossed and their hips cocked. Kurt had that stone-cold, hard ass smile on his face that he typically had when he wanted to tell Rachel something that he knew she wasn't going to like hearing. Mercedes had her rebelous, hell-no, diva smirk on her face as she sighed, shaking her head. That was her face whenever she was telling it how it was, no matter what their opinions would be.

It was true that Mercedes had once been in a situation similar to this herself. She'd been with the hot new football player, Shane at the beginning of the year, after her break-up with Sam Evans who had moved away due to his family's financial situation. But, Shane had been a complete and utter jerk to Mercedes a large percentage of the time, trying to make Mercedes believe she was better than every other member of the club. He had caused her diva-out, making her give up her part in the musical and quit Glee. And when Sam had returned, she'd realized that it was the nerdy, goofy boy who always managed to make her smile and feel confident, without trying to break down the confidence of the people around her.

And that was why Rachel knew that, no matter what Mercedes' opinion was, she was going to have to believe whatever she said. Because Mercedes had had to make a decision that was probably even harder than Tina's had been. Because Tina had fallen for Artie simply due to his personality. Mike was the real deal for her and she knew that. But, Mercedes had had the physical attraction and the emotional attraction for both Sam and Shane. And while Rachel refused to take Mercedes' approach of not picking either boy and stringing Sam along as they remained 'just friends', she knew that Mercedes had made the tough decision, picking to do what was right for her.

"What do you guys have to say?" Rachel asked with a sigh.

"Actually, we've decided that we don't want to tell you what to do. That would be wrong of us, you know? Instead, we're going to give you a little something to think about. Whichever guy you feel the way this song is saying you should feel towards your spouse, is the guy you should be with, alright?" Kurt said.

"I know, you were probably expecting some sort of huge, incredible power ballad telling you exactly what we thought on the engagement and the fact that it's obvious Finn and Puck both love you and you love both of them-especially since I'm the one performing for you right now-but, we figured we can't do that. What was right for me isn't going to be the same as what's going to be right for you. So you have to make your decision yourself. But, we can, however, give you some helpful types," Mercedes said with a coy wink.

"You know that you two are my best friends in the entire world, right? And that, even though we hated each other when we were sophomores, because we were probably the only competition we had in the club, I'm proud to say that we adjusted and matured, becoming good friends. And...thank you guys, for always being there for me," Rachel whispered as they nodded and began their song.

_"What a girl wants/What a girl needs/What a girl wants/What a girl needs," _Kurt started the song out slowly, causing Rachel to giggle, at the same time remembering the first song she and Noah had ever worked on. She could still remember his gentle guitar strumming from behind her as she'd sung into her hairbrush, staring into the mirror while they'd worked on their mash-up assignment.

"_I wanna thank you for giving me time to breath/Like a rock you waited so patiently while I got it together/While I figured it out, I only looked but I never touched/'Cause in my heart was a picture of us, holding hands, making plans/And it's lucky for me you understand," _Mercedes belted out the song.

_"What a girl wants/What a girl needs/Whatever makes me happy and sets you free/And I'm thanking you for knowing exactly/What a girl wants/What a girl needs/Whatever keeps me in your arms/And I'm thanking you for giving it to me/What I want is what cha got/And what cha got is what I want," _Kurt sang out, causing Rachel to recall all of the sweet things that Finn had ever done for her. Each one was exactly what she could have ever wanted, but it was clear he was going it mostly to keep her there. Puck's kind actions had been done because he just wanted to see that smile take over her face. It was clear that Puck was doing it to make her happy.

_"There was a time I was blind/I was so confused/I'd run away just to hide it all from you/But baby you knew me better/Than I knew myself/They say if you love something, let it go/And if it comes back, it's yours/That's how you know it's for keeps/It's for sure-and you're ready and willing to give me more than/What a girl wants/What a girl needs/Whatever makes me happy and sets you free/And I'm thanking you for knowing exactly/What a girl wants/What a girl needs/Whatever keeps me in your arms/And I'm thanking you for giving it to me,"_ Mercedes sang the lyrics in her powerful voice, allowing Rachel another flashback.

* * *

_"You're blinded by him!" Puck snapped over the summer while the two were at their spot-the over pass. It was early in the morning and a few weeks after their loss at Nationals. "You're blinded by him and you're confused, so you think that you actually love him, when you don't! You just like how he makes you feel!" He said bitterly, his angry words exagerrated by his glare and the scowl that matched. _

_Rachel really just wanted to turn around and run away, hiding from him, because she knew that he was right. He knew her better than she knew herself, most of the time. _

_"I let you go, because I was always told that if you love something, you should set it free, and then, if it comes back to you, it's for keeps and it was really yours all along, but apparently I never thought have done that! I know that you love me, Rachel-I'm sure of it and I know it's real. But...I can't keep waiting for you to be ready and willing to admit that you love me. I can't keep giving you everything that you want and everything you need, just to get rejected by you over and over again while you continue to pick Finn Hudson over me!" He snapped._

_"Noah...are you drunk?" Rachel asked softly._

_"Yeah, because I'm actually talking about my feelings-because I'm being honest and real and truthful...because I'm actually right for once in my freaking life, I must be drunk, right? Well, you know what Rachel? I'm not drunk. I'm just pissed. I'm angry that you keep picking Finn over me. And I thought that I wasn't supposed to tell you that I liked you, because you never tell a girl you like her, because it just makes you look like an idiot, but I can't help it anymore. So tell me that I look stupid because I'm telling you I love you. I don't freaking care anymore, alright? I just want you to be with me!" He snapped, but she just stared at him, shaking her head sadly as tears filled her eyes. _

* * *

_"Oh baby, oh darling, thank you-thank you, yeah, yeah/What a girl wants/What a girl needs/Somebody sensitive, crazy, sexy, cool like you/What a girl wants/ What a girl needs/Somebody who can't come and go, nobody like you/What a girl wants/What a girl needs/You let a girl know how much you care about her, I swear/You're the one who always knew/What a girl wants/What a girl needs/Whatever makes me happy and sets you free/And I'm thanking you for knowing exactly/What a girl wants/What a girl needs/Whatever keeps me in your arms/And I'm thanking you for giving it to me/Thank you-thank you/For giving me what I want/Oh, I turn around and stare/Whenever you're not there," _The two sang together, finished the song as Rachel stood up and walked towards them, wrapping her arms around them in a tight embrace.

"Thank you guys...I'm sure of what I need to do now. I really am," She whispered as the three divas enjoyed their little group hug.

"And it better be the choice that we had in mind for you when we decided to sing this song, alright? Because, if not, you're going to have a lot of explaining to do," Kurt told her as the three teenagers broke apart from their hug. They stood in their little group, sad smiles on their faces as they realized that this might be the last time they got to be that way together again. But, that wasn't the point of this meeting, and it wasn't supposed to be upsetting and sad, so Rachel hurried up to quickly lighten the mood.

"What happened to allowing me to decide whatever I thought was best for me?" Rachel giggled, giving the very flamboyant boy a fake stern look as she contorted her face into a slight frown.

"Oh, you know that we were just pulling your leg on that one. We've got everything planned out, and if you ruin our big plans, we will never be speaking to you ever again, and we know how upset you'd be if that happened. Of course, we'd be grateful to get rid of you, because you tend to get a little annoying, but that's another story in general," Kurt teased her.

"You two really are the best friends that I could ever wish for. Cedes, when you're California, becoming a big time record label holder and winning awards at the VMAs, do Kurt and I a favor and-invite us to award ceremonies-and thank us in all of your speeches, all right? And, Kurt, when we get to New York, you have to swear that nothing is going to change between us. We still have to be the very best of friends, all right? Because I'll die in New York without you around. And we all need to agree to keep in touch, because we can't lose what we have. We're the Quinn, Santana and Brittany of the New Directions, you know?" Rachel explained to her friends with a smile.

"Am I Santana or Brittany?" Kurt asked with a watery, tear filled laugh.

"Wait a second-am I Quinn, because I'm not so crazy about being the spare. You know what happens when you're just the spare guy who nobody really needs around. I can't just be that spare guy who's always there when they're not needed or wanted, you know? Because Voldemort always ends up killing the spare, and that doesn't work for me. Dead is not a good look for this diva," Mercedes decided.

"If we're going to bring the Dark Lord into this, can we just be the Golden Trio and call it a day?" Kurt asked, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Because when it comes to Mercedes and her tots, I'm always reminded of Ron and his crazy food obsession," He laughed.

"Where the hell did the Harry Potter references come into this mess? And I know what's going to happen if we're the golden trio and I absolutely refuse to allow you two to make me be Hermione, because that's just totally uncool and how dare you just assume that you're the glue holding us all together, Kurt Hummel!" Rachel scolded him teasingly. "You know what? There is no analogy you can make about us. Kurt, you're the Will to my Grace, and Mercedes, you're the Monica to my Rachel. But together? Well, there will never be another Mercedes, Kurt and Rachel and there has never been one before us. One day, little girls and their gay best friends are going to long to have a friendship just like ours," Rachel declared.

The other two agreed, before nodding and gesturing for Racehl to head off and make her decision. What neither of the two knew was that Rachel wasn't going to go and break the news just yet. She needed to wait. Because she wasn't absolutely sure yet, especially now that she knew that they'd had their own plan in mind the entire time. Because she was sure that the one she was going to pick was not the one they'd had in mind. There was no possible way they'd been expecting her to pick Finn.

Because, while Finn had always, openly, been the best guy for her-showering her in attention, love and gifts from the moment he'd realized his attraction towards her-Puck was the one who had always been there on the sidelines, looking out for her. Puck was the one that Rachel had first been with. He was the one who she kept going back to. But every time she realized she wanted him, it was out of anger towards Finn. And every time their relationship started to get serious, one of them called it off because of Finn. Finn would always stand and act as a barrier between Puck and Rachel, and that meant that the wide decision for her was to go right ahead and pick Finn. Because he really was sweet, and he did love her. And, Rachel loved him as well, despite her feelings towards Puck. She needed to be with the safe choice, anyways, and that had always been Finn and always would be.


	7. Chapter 7

**_My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 7_**

It was Thursday, and Rachel had yet to make her decision. Well, announce the decision. No, make her decision. Ugh, this was so confusing. She wasn't sure if she wanted to settle. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be with Finn, safe, usually loyal, sweet Finn who loved her with all his heart and thought nothing but the absolute best of her, or if she wanted to take the risk and be with Puck, the sex shark, who could have any girl he could ever want. But...no, he decision wasn't between Finn or _Puck. _She had to choose whether she wanted Finn or _Noah, _with his sweet, protective ways and his loyal love for her that had never faltered throughout the years of their friendship.

Noah had always been there, on the sidelines, defending her from anybody who tried to mess with her. Sometimes Puck got the best of him and hurt her, but then Noah would come over or send her a text, asking to meet at the over pass so he could make it up to her with a grape slushy and a bouquet of wild flowers-even Finn didn't know that she much preferred those to roses. Noah would show up with some sort of vegan snack, and though he'd grimace the entire time, he would sit there with her and snack on it with her, sharing a slushy rather than tossing it in her face.

Noah was the one who would listen to her problems with Finn, clenching his jaw and holding his hands in tight fists that practically turned his knuckles white. He'd tell her, through a hoarse whisper that she should just dump Finn. He'd reach out and grab her hand, building up her self esteem while she cried over her ending relationship with the boy she loved. He would hold her tight, allowing her to cry into his shoulder, staining his tee shirt with tears as he wrapped her up in his leather jacket so she wouldn't get cold.

It was a typical routine for them. Every Friday they met up at the overpass, but they hadn't done that since senior year had started up. Instead, she'd been caught up with her mother returning, the musical, the election, her college applications, and he'd been too excited that he could finally be a part of his daughter's life. They hadn't realized that upon Shelby Corcoran's arrival back into both of their lives just gave them another way to bond with one another. The hadn't realized that their connections to her should have made them closer, rather than causing the strain between their friendship at the same time that she and Finn began to grow even closer to one another.

She remembered his reaction to her telling him about how Finn had left her, when she'd been trying to make to make their first attempt. She could recall his anger, at the fact that it was with Finn and not him. At the fact that she'd wanted Finn in a way that he himself wanted her. And that was the memory that was flooding back into her head.

* * *

_"How was it?" Puck glared at her as she approached in her tiny little, gold Prius. He whirled around as he glared at her. It was late, just after eleven, and she looked like she'd been crying. "Rach...what's wrong?" He softened, taking a step towards her. _

_"He walked out. He walked out before we even did anything," Rachel said blankly. _

_"What?" Puck asked. "Come here," He sighed, reaching out and wrapping her in a hug. He'd wondered why she'd sent him a 911 text, begging him to meet at the overpass when she was supposed to be at Finn's, but he's assumed she'd just wanted to talk, as she typically did when she'd done something exciting. He sighed as she shivered in her pink, spaghetti strap dress. It was a thin material with a tight bodice that made her boobs like incredible, and flared our around her legs. It was so typically Rachel and so subtly sexy that Puck wanted to take her right then and there-screw Finn Hudson. _

_"We were making out and he asked me why I suddenly wanted to...you know," She sighed as she buried her face in his chest, the wind being blocked against his leather jacket as her face was buried deep inside of it as he held onto her tightly. "And I told him it was because I love him, because I do...and then I accidently let it slip that Artie said Blaine and I lacked the-"_

_"Screw Artie, alright? I don't care what he said about you and I don't care what he said about Blaine. What I care about is the fact that Finn ran out on you when you wanted to sleep with him. I don't care what your freaking reasons were or how selfish they were. Finn should know the rules well enough to know that you never question a girl's reasons, and you absolutely never just leave or send a girl away. That's not cool and it's not allowed. I thought I taught him well enough about that. I bet he never asked Santana or Quinn why they wanted to sleep with him-and you know why? Because he knows that you can do better than him!" Puck said, his anger growing with each word. _

_"I just can't believe he really left me...I thought...I thought he actually loved me and wanted to be with me, despite whatever self-absorbed reasons I had for it." Rachel said, her voice shaky as she spoke. _

_"Rachel, believe me, Finn's just an insecure idiot who wants you to beg him and need him. He knows that you're better. He knows you can do better. He knows that he doesn't deserve you, and he's stupidly throwing away everything he has with you, because he's so afraid of losing you. Don't hold it against him..."Puck sighed, and Rachel could practically hear all of the pain in his voice as he said the words that she was sure were hard for him to get out of his mouth. He sighed as he tightened his grip on her._

_"When did you stop being Puck and turn into Noah?" She wondered._

_"I've always been Noah with you...but if you'd prefer I act like Puck," He said slyly, pushing her away slightly and looking down at her with a wicked grin on his face. "I'm perfectly available and I have no problem with hooking up with you so that you can get the experience you believe you need for a believable performance in the musical," He said brightly. _

_"Oh, Noah," She giggled, throwing herself tightly into his arms as he wrapped them around her once again, holding onto her as tightly as he possibly could, whispering reassuring words into her hair as she cried into his chest. "I'm sorry...I'm staining your shirt, aren't I? Then again...you've never been one to care about your clothes...oh, I'm rambling on-I'm just going to shut up now and stop talking and let you hold me...although, I just want to add that I've missed you holding me like this," She sighed as she buried herself even further into him, wrapping her arms around his waist as he held her, giving her a gentle kiss on the top of the head before releasing her._

* * *

"Hey, Rachel?" She glanced up to see Puck standing there, holding his guitar. "I wanted to sing something to you, and I haven't been able to find you alone, and everybody else left because Glee's over and-"He was rambling, something she could never recall him doing before. "Anyways, it's an embarrassing song for me to sing, because it's the opposite of Bad Ass and all, so I knew that I had to sing it when you and I were alone together. So...yeah, just, listen and think, I guess," He sighed, shaking his head as he sat down besides her, strumming his guitar as she lifted her head and brought her legs up to her chin, resting her chin on the top of her knees as she wrapped her arms around her legs.

_"I am not the kind of boy/Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion/But you are not the kind of girl/Who should be marrying the wrong boy/I sneak in and see your friends/And his snotty little family all dressed in pastel/And he is yelling at a bridesmaid/and you're back inside a room wearing a gown shaped like a pastry/This is surely now that you thought it would be/I lost myself in a daydream/Where I stand and say/Don't say yes run away now/I'll meet you when we're out of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/You need to hear me out and they said speak now,"_ Puck sang, his voice in a lovely, strong false setto as his eyes focused on the guitar.

_"Fine gestures are exchanged/And the organ starts to play/A song that sounds like a death march/And I am hiding in the curtains/Seems like I was uninvited by your lovely groom-to-be/You float down the aisle like a pageant queen/And I know you wish it was me/You wish it was me-don't you," _He glanced at at her with that sheepish grin on his face that always managed to make her fall in love with him all over again. She sighed as she blushed, turning her head away from him. He stood up, walking towards her as he strummed along on his guitar with the second verse of the song, his eyes never leaving her, now that he'd finally gained the strength to look at her.

_"Don't say yes, run away now/I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/You need to hear me out and they said speak now/Don't say yes, run away now/I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/Your time is running out and they said speak now/Oh, la la-oh-oh, say a single vow," _He sang on, sitting down besides her once again as she unfolded herself from her tiny little ball that she'd rolled herself into and turned around to look at him, a small smile on her face as she shook her head, looking quite amused at him and his country, girl-y song choice to win her over.

_"I hear the preacher say speak now or forever hold you peace/There's the silence, there's my last chance/I stand up with shaky hands, all eyes on me/Horrified looks from everyone in the room/But I'm only looking at you/I am not the kind of boy who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion/But you are not the kind of girl who should be marrying the wrong boy," _He sang on, still strumming the guitar as she started to smile a more real, more earnest smile at him as she tapped her foot along with the beat that he was playing. He knew that his words were getting to her, and that gave him a little bit of hope. And he was going to clutch whatever tiny bit of hope he had.

_"So, don't say yes/Run away now/I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/You need to hear me out/And they said speak now/And you'lle say, let's run away now/I'll meet you when I'm out of my dress at the back door/Baby, I didn't say my vows, so glad you were around/When they said speak now," _He sang, observing the small, slightly grateful smile that she flashed his way when he stopped playing the song, pushing it to the aside as she leaned in closer to him, whispering softly into his ear, a sweet, gentle thank you, before standing up and strolling out of the room and away from him as he sat there, wondering if it had worked or not.


	8. Chapter 8

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 8**

"Kiss me," Rachel declared, slamming the door to her car behind her. "Kiss me, Noah Puckerman," She demanded, walking towards the boy who had his back to her, facing the town that they both despised. He turned around slowly, raising a gentle eyebrow at her before walking towards her with quick, long, determined strides and wrapping his arms around her waist, his hands settling on her hips as he held her close, pushing a strand of hair away from her face.

"As you wish," He whispered before doing exactly as she'd asked, pressing his lips softly to her and pulling her just a tad closer to him as her hands wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer to her as she deepened the kiss with his response from her favorite non-musical movie, _Princess Bride. _

"Why'd you want me to-"He began when they broke apart for air, but was cut off by her pulling his face down to hers, kissing him once again. "Does this mean you made up your mind?" He asked quickly as she broke away for another breath of air. She didn't answer him. She just started kissing him again, this time with her tongue skimming his bottom lip before darting into his mouth to meet his own. She moaned into the kiss as she took her tongue back and started to nibble on his bottom lip in that way he'd always liked from their few semi-hook-ups.

When she broke away to breath this time, he placed his hands on her shoulders, keeping her at a distance as he frowned down at her.

"Rachel, I can only do this if you promise me that you made up your mind and decided to pick me, alright? I can't just set myself up to get hurt, because I've done that too many times when it came to you. I love you too much to do this right now and have you end up running back to Finn's arms when you're done with me, alright?" He asked her, all the pain from their past hook-ups coming back into his eyes at that moment and flooding his face with so much heartbreak that it started to crush Rachel a little bit. She'd never realized how much it could have hurt him, every time they'd gotten together for a good make-out, just to have it end because of Finn Hudson.

"I pick you, Noah, I do. I really, honestly, truthfully pick you. And I should have picked you a long time ago, because I don't love Finn and I never did," She told him as she gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Can we go to your truck?" She asked, glancing at his backed upped truck, with the bed over looking the town. They'd always spent their times at the over pass cuddled up together in the bed of the truck, staring at the town they couldn't wait to get out of.

"Yeah, we can do whatever you want," He said, wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her towards the truck bed, lifting her up onto the truck bed, hopping up to join her as they put their backs against the back of the truck, Puck's arm wrapped around Rachel's shoulders as her head rested on his chest. "By the way, I love you, Berry, and I always have, just in case you never figured that one out," He said, pulling her a little bit closer to him as he stared down at the beautiful girl that was albeit in his lap.

"I know, Noah," She sighed, reaching up and giving him another kiss, deepening it almost instantly as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. She pushed him down into a lying position and deepened the kiss once more, moaning softly when he moved down to trace a trail of kisses down her neck and then back up to her mouth. She reached for his shirt, pulling it upwards quickly, breaking their kiss for just a few seconds so that she could remove his shirt, setting her hands on his bare chest and moving it down across his abs, fingering his nipple ring for a second before smiling down at him slyly, a wicked grin forming across her usually angelic features.

"Woah, Rachel...slow down a little...I mean...I've been waiting for this moment for years but...are you sure?" He whispered, breaking the kiss for a second.

"Noah, I want you, alright? I've been waiting for this just as long as you have, so stop trying to put it off to make it all romantic and stuff. We're under the stars right now, so shut up and let's go," She said.

"Okay, okay," He laughed, rolling over so that he was on top. "Let's do this thing," He grinned.

She responded with a sly grin and by pulling him closer to her.

"Wait," He said, pushing away. She groaned as she rolled her eyes, letting out an impatient sigh. "Just...I mean, if we're gonna do this...should we go in my truck, or do you want to come over or something? This can't be-"

"Noah," She giggled at his sheepish, embarrassed ways. She loved that she was the only person allowed to see this side of him. The real Noah Puckerman, who wasn't perfect or tough all the time. The one who wasn't a complete and total bad ass who didn't care about anyone or anything, as long as he got a girl in his bed each and every night. She was allowed to get a sneak peak into the life of the real Noah Puckerman, and she was the only person allowed to do so, and she loved knowing that she got to know him in ways that nobody else in the world would ever be able to know him. It made what they had even more special than the love that they shared for one another.

He stopped talking and stared down at her, his eyes no longer filled with sadness and pain, but complete and utter sheet happiness and love as he looked down at her. It was so different from the lustful glances that Finn gave her when they did it. That just made her even more sure, and made her just a little bit more impatient to be with him.

"Shut up and make love to me already, okay?" She sighed, rolling her eyes at him. She honestly didn't care about the romantics of the situation or their location. She didn't care that they technically weren't together yet and she didn't care about where they were doing it or why. She just wanted to be with him and she wanted it to happen now, caught up in the moment of both of them finally admitting their love for one another for the first time. "Okay?" She repeated as he stared down at her in amazement. And then he listened to her.

* * *

An hour later, Rachel was lying on her back with Puck's arm draped around her as she rested her head on his chest, her knees bent as they stared at the stars over their stupid town, writing something down in a notebook.

"Whatcha writing?" He asked her, reaching for the notebook and taking it from her, closing the book and studying the cover. She could feel his grip tense and tightened as he held onto her. He wasn't pulling her any closer to him, but he was holding her much tighter than he had been before, and she knew the exact reason for that. "Why are you working on your plans for you wedding with Finn?" He asked softly, pushing away from her so that he was no longer holding her, bringing himself into an slightly upright position, propped up on one elbow as he stared down at her, his eyebrows forming a tiny little V with an adorable little crease between the two of them.

"Noah, please don't-"

"You _promised _me, Rach. You s_wore _that you were picking me over him and you wanted to be with me, not him. He _promised _that it would be different this time, and here you are, after we freaking have _sex, _writing in your stupid, furry little pink notebook that's full of your plans for your wedding with Finn _freaking _Hudson. Seriously, why does he have to get _worse _every time you bail on me for him and pick me over him? Why aren't I good enough for you, Rachel?" He asked, frowning at her with hurt filled eyes.

"Will you please just calm down and listen to me? I'm not working on _plans _for the wedding, alright? Please don't just rush to assume that I'm picking him over you, because I'm not. In fact, if you'd open that up to what I've most recently written, you'd understand exactly what was going on, alright?" She told him, her voice lacking an anger, which surprised him.

He sighed as he flipped open the book and skimmed through the pages, finding the most recent comment she'd written in her curly, girly little sprawl in her hot pink writing that was almost impossible to read, especially in the near darkness.

_Break the news to Finn that I'm picking Noah..._

He took a deep breath as he tossed the book aside and rolled himself over as he took his position on top of her once again, staring down into her dark chocolate colored eyes with his own hazelnut colored ones, smiling as he reached down and gave her a quick, gentle peck on the lips before rolling back over to his original position, pulling her into his arms with her head resting on his chest as he traced patterns into her arm with his finger.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," He mumbled into her hair, doing something that nobody would ever expect Noah Puckerman, residential bad ass of McKinley high school to do to anybody, especially a girl-_especially _after sleeping with her. But, with Rachel, everything was different. He was no longer Puck, the Grade A bad ass that everybody cowered in fear of. He was Noah, in stead, the Jewish-momma's boy who would do anything for the girl he loved and to make his mother proud of him. "And, I'd like to help you break the news to Finn, if you'd let me," He told her, giving the top of her head a gentle, slow kiss on the head as he tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer to him this time around.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you think that you had a choice in the matter? I thought you knew that you were going to help me. And we're going to tell everybody in Glee on Monday, alright? And you know that that means we're going to be singing a duet in order to do so," She said happily as she rolled over and gave him a long, lingering kiss directly on the lips before he could protest. And, just as she'd known he would, he nodded blankly, eagerly leaning in for another kiss before pushing her away and telling her they should start getting home.

She sighed as she grabbed her jeans, sliding on the tight, skinny denim material, giving Puck a kiss as she leaned over him to select her shirt from the other side of him. She pulled the black tee shirt over her head and smiled a teasing smile at him.

"Are you going to start getting dressed?" She teased him.

"I'd rather watch you," He drawled, watching her already dressed figure crawl to the end of his truck bed and drop to the ground. "You're so damn sexy, Rachel, and I can't believe you're all mine now," He told her as he grabbed his jeans and pulled them on, crawling towards the edge of the truck bed, shirtless, to watch her walk away.

"Am I?" She asked him, that teasing smile still in place. He frowned in confusion. "Am I really all yours, because I'm not so sure that I ever agreed to that. I actually don't recall being _asked _if I agreed with that sentiment," She informed him walking back towards the truck bed and smiling at him with an eyebrow raised as if to tell him to take the hint. He frowned in confusion for a little while longer before shaking his head, realization dawning on him as he started to smile, a broad grin taking over his face.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" He asked her, his crooked, arrogant, rebel without a cause grin on his face.

"Yes," She said with a smile, turning on her heel and heading back towards her car.

"All I get is a yes?" He called after her as she disappeared into the darkness.

"Yup," She called over her shoulder, unlocking her door and pulling the door open.

Suddenly he was behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he twirled her around.

"I don't think so," He frowned, shaking his head at her as he leaned down and kissed her, long and hard, leaning her back up against her car.

"Okay," She smiled at him. "I love you, but I really need to go home now-I'll see you tomorrow," She said, giving him one more quick kiss before crawling into her car and driving away, leaving a smiling Puck, standing there in the darkness, watching his girlfriend drive away.

And then it dawned on him.

"Rachel Berry's my girlfriend and I just freaking slept with her," He said to himself, unable to believe any of it.

And then another thing dawned on him.

"I just freaking slept with my best friend's fiancee," He said softly, shaking his head. "Damn it!" He swore as he raced back to his truck.


	9. Chapter 9

**_My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 9_**

That weekend, Rachel spent her days dodging phone calls from a very angry Finn Hudson who wanted to know what her choice was right then and there. He refused to wait until Glee rehearsal on Monday, like the rest of the club was patiently doing, to find out if Rachel Berry had decided to remain with the star quarterback and marry Finn Hudson, fresh out of high school, or if the school's good girl had decided to dump her all-star boyfriend and fiance for the residential bad-ass who had bullied her for years, tormenting each and every one of her friends through their early high school years and actually proceed to date Noah Puckerman. Rachel knew she wouldn't be able to lie, because that just wasn't her. So, instead, she hit IGNORE every time Finn dialed her phone number. Every time she received a text message from him, she'd erase it without opening it and she hid from the internet, not wanting to see whatever he'd been flooding her Facebook account, email address, and instant messenger with. Of course, it would come as no surprise to anybody that Rachel hadn't been logged on all weekend, since she was rarely on to begin with, except for the exception of the occasional video of herself singing being posted or a brief status with news about the Glee club attached to it, tagging each member to spam her notifications with cruel, hurtful comments and very few likes.

The only member of the New Directions that Rachel spoke to during her weekend, was Noah Puckerman, who had arrived at her house early on Saturday morning with a bouquet of brightly colored gladiolus. He'd been dressed simply, in jeans with a solid tee shirt, but that had been nicer than her oversized T-shirt-an old one of Finn's that he'd left at her house ages ago-with a pair of tiny little shorts.

Surprisingly, Puck didn't seem upset to spot Rachel wearing her ex-fiance's shirt. He'd just given her that crooked little half grin that had first won her over, and handed her the flowers before ducking inside and closing the door behind him, giving her a soft and gentle kiss on the lips when he was sure they were safely alone and out of the view of anybody who would stick their noses into their private lives and spread the word around before they had a chance to tell people themselves. Puck didn't even mention the shirt until Rachel had set the flowers on a table in the hallway and wound her arms around his neck, smiling up at him, with his arms locked around her waist, hands firmly cupping her hips.

"You're looking mighty sexy in that tee shirt," He drawled. "You wanna do something for me?" He asked.

"Take it off?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him coyly, giving him the most seductive, sexy look she could muster while being completely weak in the knees and falling apart just due to the gaze of his hazel eyes on hers.

"No, keep it on," He shook his head, reaching for her hands which had already grabbed the hem of her shirt and begun to tug it upwards. He took her hands in his own and held onto them tightly, smiling down at her with that suggestive smile that could get her to do almost anything in the entire world. "Actually, you know what, I do want you to take it off. And I want you to put _mine _on," He told her, removing his tee shirt and handing it to her as he stood there, bare chested, enjoying her eyes widen at the sight of him. "And then," He said as she removed Finn's old white tee shirt. "I want you to sing for me," He grinned happily, handing her his shirt and broadening his smile as she easily slipped it on over her bare torso. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at his words and frowned slightly.

"You're sexy when you're performing, and I want my own little show, just for me," He said, pulling her close to him again, giving her a gentle kiss on the top of her nose. "So, let's go," he said, unhooking one arm from around her and guiding her up the stairs and to her bedroom where he settled onto her bed in the same fashion he had when they'd first hooked-up as she stood in front of him, shaking her head in amusement.

"Any requests?" She giggled.

Only Noah Puckerman could make Rachel Berry, the future star of Lima, Ohio, nervous about performing. It didn't make sense, because he was always proud of her, no matter how she performed, but she was only nervous when it was due to him.

"Just sing to me-no Broadway and no Katy Perry though," He bargained with her with a wink as she rolled her eyes and turned around, flipping through a CD case. She sighed as she selected on and slipped it into her CD player, giving him a wink of her own as the music started to play, and, before long, allowing her voice to join in.

_"The real me is a Southern girl with her Levis on and an open heart/Wish I could save the world, like I was super girl/The real me used to laugh all night, lying in the grass just talking about love/But lately I've been jaded; life got so complicated/I start thinking about it/I almost forgot what it was like/To know what it feels like/'Cause with-I can let my hair down," _At this she loosened the messy bun she'd twisted her hair into the night before, allowing it to become a long, high ponytail. _"I can say anything crazy/I know you'll catch me right before I hit the ground/With nothing but a tee shirt on/I've never felt so beautiful/Baby as I do now/Now that I'm with you/With you-with you-with you/Now that I'm with you," _She belted out the words to an old Jessica Simpson, her facial expressions telling the story as she went on.

_"You speak and it's like a song/And just like that all my walls come down/It's like it's a private joke just meant for us to know/I relate to you naturally/Every body else just fades away/Sometimes it's heard to breath/Just knowing you found me/I start thinking about it/I almost forgot what it was like/To know what love feels right/'Cause with you/I can let my hair down/I can say anything crazy," _She let her hair from the ponytail and ran her hands through it slightly. _"I know you'll catch me right before I hit the ground/With nothing but a T-shirt on/I've never felt so beautiful/Baby as I do now/Now that I'm with you/With you," _She sang, lowering her voice slightly and plopping onto her bed on her hands and knees.

_"Come and take me/LOve you save me/Like nobody else/Now I can be myself/With you/With you/I can let my hair down," _She shook her hair out before rolling over onto her back. _"I can say anything crazy/I know you'll catch me right before I hit the ground/With nothing but a T-shirt on/I've never felt so beautiful/Baby as I do now/Now that I'm with you," _She finished the song as Puck wrapped her arms around him, pulling her close to him.

"I want to sing a solo to break it to Finn. I'll let him know myself, alright? I mean, at first. He doesn't need to know we slept together, actually, so I can just tell him that I've picked you," Rachel said softly.

"Are you ashamed of having sex with me?" Puck frowned.

"God, no," Rachel shook her head quickly. "It's just...I know how you are with him. He's your best friend and you don't want to hurt him, so, because you slept with me while Finn and I were still together, just as you did with Quinn, you'll let him kick your ass without even attempting to fight back, because you feel guilty-and don't say he couldn't hurt you or you don't feel guilty, because I _know _you. You'll lie there with him throwing punches until your entire face is bloody, bruised, and swollen, because you don't want to hurt or lose your best friend," Rachel said softly.

"If he were to beat me up-despite the fact he doesn't know what happened between you and I last night-would you nurse be back to health?" He asked slyly, glancing down at her with a wicked grin.

"Of course," She said quickly.

"Okay, so if I asked Santana if you could borrow her little nurse's outfit..."

"You're a perv," She rolled her eyes, pushing him aside playfully.

"No, I'm a toad," He informed her, rolling over so he was on top of her. "A horny toad," He said, kissing her on the lips.

* * *

Sunday, Rachel and Puck snuggled close together on the couch, remembering their old memories.

"Do you remember Night of Neglect?" Rachel asked softly.

"When you wouldn't let me inside the school until I got those stupid puppies?"

"Well, you _did _promise."

"You practically forced me into it!"

"Actually, I was just very convincing when trying to get you to agree."

"You're a tease."

"You're a man whore."

"And you're a slut."

"You are a walking STD."

"And you're going to catch it now."

"Whatever-so, you remember that night?"

"Of course I do."

* * *

_"Puckerman!" Rachel beamed, approaching the broad shouldered, tall bad-ass who was flirting with five of the sophomore Cheerios. He forced a grimace on, muttering an insincere apology to the younger girls before turning towards Rachel as the girls scurried away, giving Rachel an annoyed glance. Honestly, Puck was just happy to be free of them and alone in a hallway-despite how crowded the hallway was-with Rachel Berry, without Finn Hudson around to cause any trouble between the two. Puck didn't need any more friction between him and Rachel anyways, not with all the chaos that had been created by their most recent make-out session. _

_"Yes, my hot little Jewish American-"_

_"If you finish that sentence, I'm going to murder you. I thought I've told you before that that name is incredibly sexist and rude and totally offensive. I am **not **a princess and I do not like being referred to as little. My height happens to be very average for my age and gender, whereas **you **are above averagely tall, but I don't refer to you as big," She stopped there, her face flushing bright red. _

_"Can I call you my hot Jewish American girl then? I'm not calling you short or a princess in that case," He said happily, choosing to ignore her comment and the ways it could bet taken, other than her real meanings for the statement. _

_"Shut up, Puckerman. I didn't put myself in a conversation with you to be mocked relentlessly and insulted and made fun of. I could have simply walked past Karofsky and Azimio if I wanted that, after all. I came over here because I needed your help with something, alright? A favor, of sorts, I guess one might say. So, if you wouldn't mind shutting that large whole in your face that allowed you to breath and speak, as well as eat, I would like to get on with my point. Is that alright with you?" She asked sarcastically. _

_"You're a snarky little girl today, aren't you? I'm slightly turned on by it though. Although, one could argue that I'm always turned on by you," He told her with a careless grin and a playful little smirk._

_"PUCKERMAN!" She snapped, actually going as far as to stomp her foot. _

_"Alright, okay, I get it. No jokes, no humor. Let's be serious today! I didn't realize that we weren't allowed to have any fun with one another anymore," He rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms and looked down at her. "I'll play by the rules, okay? Now, what do you want me to do, and what will I be getting in return for this favor?" He asked. _

_"Mercedes is refusing to preform without pomeranian puppies for some stupid, silly reason that your idiotic girlfriend has put into her head. I honestly do not know the details nor do I care, so, if you would simple go out and find a couple of soft, fluffly puppies for her for whatever her purposes for them are, that would be quite helpful, alright? And I'm sure your **girlfriend **would give you whatever you'd like in return for doing this for us, alright? Okay, that's it...thanks," She said, ending her statement awkwardly as she turned on her heel and started to walk away. She was stopped by a hand reaching out and taking her wrist, a soft voice whispering for her to stop. _

_"Berry, I don't want Lauren to give me my payment for doing this for you. I mean, I'm giving up my bad-ass reputation here, looking for fluffy puppies, especially those stupid pomeranians she wants so badly. I think I should at least get something more than what I'm already getting," He said, a sly smile on his face as she turned around to face him. "Besides, why do you even need to make Mercedes happy? Does she really need to perform? Isn't she just taking your spot in the show?" He wondered. _

_"Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the team, Noah," She sighed, shaking her head. "Giving up my solo in this performance might just ensure the fact that Mercedes will sing whatever spot Mr. Shue assigns her when we go to our next competition," She said, and that was when Puck realized just how tired she looked. He'd never seen her look so old before. _

_"I don't understand..."Puck sighed. _

_"Well, I honestly wouldn't expect you to be able to grasp the concept, with your emotional depth of a teaspoon, and what not," She rolled her eyes, repeating a line she'd remembered from those books he'd liked so much when he was younger. _

_"You remember our Harry Potter marathons?" He asked brightly, his eyes lightening up a little bit. "That's not important," He quickly shook his head as he sighed again. "Anyways, I was going to ask you to make-out with me, because you're surprisingly incredible at that one, but I've changed my mind. Mostly because I'm not so sure I want to make-out with you when you feel compelled to do so. There's a Harry Potter weekend this weekend, on ABC Family. Will you come over and watch it with me?" He asked._

_"You want me to come over and watch movies with you all weekend? Noah, you do recall that when we used to have our Harry Potter marathons, I'd sleep over at your house so we wouldn't miss a single second, even if we watched the same movie over and over again, correct? I'm not so sure your girlfriend would appreciate you having another female sleeping over at your house to watch movies with you all weekend long," She sighed. _

_"Lauren and I aren't exclusive. And besides that, she's sort a bitch to me. We're not really dating, anyways. It's more of a game of cat and mouse for us. It's too hard to explain. Listen, if you want the puppies for the show, you're going to have to come over and watch Harry Potter with me all weekend long, and you're going to sleep over, like you used to, and we'll camp out in the living room, like always. We're going to eat the same snacks and have the same spots that we'd always had. It's going to be just like old times," He informed her before starting to walk away. "Oh, but, of course, if you feel like making out at any point during the night, that's perfectly acceptable," He called over his shoulder. _

* * *

"That was some weekend..."

"I didn't even kiss you!"

"Yeah, but you always get scared during those movies."

"They're scary!"

"I'm not complaining! I liked you being that close to me."

"I can't believe you made me come over when you didn't even get the puppies."

"A deal's a deal."

"But you didn't-"

"You called me and said never mind, remember?"

"Whatever."

"You hate being wrong."

"I'm never wrong, Noah."

"No, but you make mistakes."

"What's that mean?"

"Finn Hudson."

"Shut up!"


	10. Chapter 10

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 10**

Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson had met on the first day of kindergarden. Their friendship started out because all boys in kindergarden-all boys in _most _of elementary school, even Kurt Hummel-were friends with one another. There was one group of guys from kindergarden up to fifth grade. The boys, plain and simple. There was no line dividing them, or, at least, not one that they realized at that moment. But, soon enough, they were closer than the rest of the boys were. And they were the leaders of the pack before anybody could blink. They'd instantly become best friends while the other kids talked about their father's and their incredible jobs. Puck could still remember the moment that had defined them as best friends, even now that he was close to graduating.

* * *

_"My dad's a lawyer-he puts the bad people in jail and makes the god people get money!" David Karofsky announced proudly one day during play time when the boys were playing with their race cars. _

_"Well, my dad's a cop and he gets to carry around a gun!" Azimio Adams said happily, his car zooming by._

_"What's your dad do?" David-nobody called him by his last name back then-asked, turning towards Finn, who was sitting there quietly, his car going back and forth across the floor, never giving him a reason to move or strain himself. Finn had always been simple, just as he'd always had that somewhat dopey appearance to him that made him look so innocent all the time. _

_"Don't got a dad," Finn said easily enough. It was so blunt that it caused Puck, who had had his mohawk even back then, to turn around. His gaze broke away from Rachel Berry's, who's eyes he'd been locked on, as he turned around to face the tall-Finn had always been the tallest of them all-boy with the innocent, goofy face and the too-large features that he needed to grow into. Puck frowned as he listened carefully, not wanting to make it obvious that he actually cared about Finn's story. _

_"Whaddya mean, you don't got a dad? Everybody's got a dad! What do you do on Father's day?" David asked, rolling his eyes at Azimio, who had always been his best friend, as if to ask if anybody could really be as stupid as Finn was acting. "Well? How do you not have a dad?" He asked. Back then, things were simple and kids didn't understand divorce, unless it had happened to their family. And even then, they didn't really fully grasp it. And still, they never actually referred to it as not having a father. Poor David didn't realize that sometimes, people died young. Sometimes, good people who were needed in a family, died, and caused an innocent boy to lead a messed up life._

_Puck sometimes liked to think if it hadn't been for Finn's father's death, the two never would have become best friends. And if they hadn't become best friends...well, that was better to be explained later. This was a memory. _

_"My dad's dead," Finn said simply with a shrug of his shoulders. "He was a soldier and he died in war," He said._

_"He's dead? Did he get shot? Who shot him-was it on our side? Or did he get blown up? That would be awesome! Or maybe something happened with one of his machines...wow, do you know how it happened?" David asked, his eyes growing wide as the husky-even back then-boy became more and more excited, while Finn looked closer to the verge of tears. _

_"David," Puck said, standing up and clenching his fists. The mohawk had intimidated people, even back then. David lowered his eyes, not wanting to meet Puck's hazel glaze. Only Rachel had ever been willing to always look him in the eyes and hold his gaze. "Lay off of him. Not everyone's got a dad. I don't have one. I've just got a mom, and does that make me less of a person? In fact, it just makes me even more bad ass," His language had always been quite vulgar. "Because I became manly without any outside help!" He boasted, walking towards Finn. "I'm Puck," He said, shooting his hand forward. _

_"I'm Finn Hudson," Finn smiled, standing up and carefully setting his toy down, making Puck wonder if he'd picked the wrong boy to defend. Perhaps his theory on single-mothered sons was wrong, and he was the exception to the lady-like rules. But, then again, with a flash at Kurt Hummel, who only had a mother, it was clear that it didn't matter who raised a child. They became who they were based on who they were supposed to be. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Rachel flashing him a wide grin. "You wanna be best friends?" Finn asked happily, silently thanking Puck for getting him out of that awkward situation while Puck nodded his confirmation. _

* * *

Puck had always believed that Finn's life would have been better if the two of them had never become friends, though. After all, if they hadn't been friends, then Finn never would have become Mr. Popularity. He was that, because he could be his goofy, stupid, innocent self who could barely get a girlfriend, and not be mocked. And he wasn't mocked because Puck was always at his side, growling with his mohawk scaring off anybody who even thought about saying anything nasty to Finn. And the fact that the giant didn't even seem to realize that the few insults that did manage to come his way were meant to hurt him didn't harm his cause either. He seemed untouchable.

If Finn hadn't been untouchable, then Quinn Fabray wouldn't have looked at him twice. She'd admitted as much to Puck. Their relationship was, in Quinn's eyes, purely based on status. Until she'd lost him, that was. Then she'd realized how much he'd meant to her. But, if Quinn and Finn had never started dating, Puck wouldn't have felt compelled to be nice to her at that stupid party that Finn couldn't go to because of some family thing. If Puck hadn't been fulfilling Quinn's every wish, he would have realized how strong the drinks she was drinking were and how many of them she was drinking. And if she'd never gotten that drunk, mixed with his own drunkness, the two of them never would have slept together.

If they hadn't slept together, then Finn and Quinn never would have broken up. They would have stayed together forever, Puck was sure of that much. Because no matter what Finn felt towards Rachel, he'd never do anything while he was still with Quinn. And Quinn wouldn't give up the popularity boost for the world, even if it meant letting him be happy with somebody who truly loved him. But, if they'd never broken up then Finn never would have been able to hook up with Santana, sleeping with her just to get it over with, because he thought Rachel was sleeping with that Jesse St. James kid. And if Finn and Quinn had never broken up, Rachel and Finn wouldn't have ever dated.

If they hadn't dated, and Santana hadn't slept with Finn, then Rachel and Finn never would have gotten into the fight where Puck and Rachel made out. If they hadn't made out, Finn and Rachel wouldn't have broke up. If they hadn't broken up, Puck and Rachel wouldn't have sung the duet together and Finn wouldn't have gotten jealous and made Puck swear to never speak to her again. And if Rachel and Finn had never gotten back together-if they'd never gotten together in the first place-then they never would have ever slept together, nor would they have ended up engaged to one another. And if they hadn't gotten engaged, Puck wouldn't feel so lousy about having slept with her.

Which was why Puck was going to do a very stupid thing right now. He sighed as he grabbed the punching bag, stopping it from coming towards him again.

"Finn?" He asked.

Finn turned around, still holding the mini weights he was lifting in each arm, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked, rolling his eyes. Finn already had Puck on thin ice, due to the fact that there was a choice for Rachel to make in the first place.

"Rachel made her choice," He said softly.

"How do you know?" Finn asked, glaring at him.

"Because she told me on Friday," Puck lowered his head.

"Who'd she pick, Puckerman," Finn glared, setting the weights down, in a similar fashion to how he'd put his toy car down all those years ago.

"She picked me," He said softly.

"She picked _you?" _Finn gasped, taking a small step forward.

Puck stood his ground. He'd let Finn kick his ass over Quinn and the baby. But Finn wasn't getting an easy win over Rachel.

"We had sex," He admitted.

"You freaking slept with my girlfriend _again?" _Finn screamed, lunging towards Puck and pining him to the wall, faster than Puck had ever seen him move before.

He glared, reaching out to push Finn off, when Finn's fist met his face in a hard punch.

"Is she freaking pregnant? What? Did you get Rachel drunk and pregnant so she _had _to pick you?" Finn glared.

"Don't you _dare a_ccuse me of raping her!" Puck snapped, shoving Finn off and bringing him to the ground, his knee locked on his chest as he threw punch after punch at his face.

"Puck, get off of him!" Sam Evans said, reaching out to try and break the fight up. The blonde was pulled away by Mike Chang and Blaine Anderson. Rory Flannigan stood by with a shocked expression on his face.

"Dude, don't try to break the two of them up. Especially when they're both fighting. Mr. Shue could barely get Finn off of Puck sophomore year, and Puck wasn't even trying," Artie Abrams shook his head.

"What are they even fighting over?" Rory asked, his eyes locked on the two supposed best friends as they rolled around, wrestling and throwing punches on the ground. Their only noises were grunts and groans.

"What do you think they're fighting over?" Blaine Anderson asked. He only knew how the two were because of Kurt, but Rachel was one of his best friends, and she'd told him and only him the previous night about what was going on. "Rachel," He said.

"They're fighting like _this _over Rachel Berry?" Artie asked in amazement. "Damn, when they were fighting over Quinn it wasn't even half as bad!" He said, shaking his head as he removed his glasses to wipe them off.

"DON'T EVEN COMPARE THEM, WHEELS!" Puck shouted when he got a second to get back on his feet before lunging towards Finn, landing on top of him with his elbow pointed, hitting him right in the neck.

"Are we just supposed to let them try and kill each other? I don't think we're doing the right thing here..."Rory shook his head, wondering if the first person to be honestly nice to him at McKInley would be okay.

"I'm going to get the only person who can break this fight up," Blaine decided, turning around and heading away from the feuding boys, heading right towards the door, stopping only when he heard that the others were calling after him, shouting things out to him. He felt complied to answer, because that was just how polite Blaine was.

"Coach Bieste?" Artie asked. Blaine shook his head as Mike guess Mr. Shue. Once again, Blaine shook his head. Rory asked if it was that scary cheerleading coach. Blaine chuckled as he denied them even this one. Sam wondered if it was the swim team coach, who was almost as bad as Sue. Blaine rolled his eyes and shook his head. He knew they'd never figured it out.

"I'm going to go get Rachel," He said softly over his shoulder as he pushed out of the locker room, tossing his boxing gloves onto the floor behind him, just as the door swung shut, and turned to the right, heading off towards the choir room, figuring that would be the best place to go to find Rachel. He found her there, sure enough, and dragged her silently back to the locker room, pulling her inside, ignoring her many protests along the way.

"What the hell? Why are they fighting and why are you idiots just standing there watching them like it's WWE?" She asked, shocking the boys at her knowledge of something some-what sports related. "Why aren't you doing anything to stop them you idiots?" She asked, glaring at each of them in turn before turning on Blaine. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"They're fighting over you, because of what happened on Friday and your decision. Now stop yelling at us as if it's out fault and turn your diva onto the two love struck idiots trying to kill one another!" Blaine said, rolling his eyes at the little diva before him. His words were cruel, but his tone had a somewhat teasing tone to it which made her simply sigh and turn to storm towards Finn and Puck.

"Noah," Rachel said softly, reaching out and setting a hand on Puck's arm. He paused for a second before loosening his grip on Finn and standing up, taking a step back. Finn jumped to his feet and lunged towards Puck, but Rachel held a hand up. "Finn," She sighed, shaking her head. "This is getting old. You two can't do this every time you disagree," She said.

"He told me you slept with, Rach," Finn said, deciding that it was best to play his dumb card, acting as if he was foolish, naive, innocent and stupid. Rachel would have fallen for it, if she hadn't already seen this exact tactic tried countless times on herself, his family, other glee club members, teachers, and countless other members of the faculty and staff. It actually sickened her to think that Finn thought he could get whatever he wanted by playing dumb. "I couldn't just let him talk about you like that,"

"He accused me of raping you, Rachel. He said that I must have gotten you drunk, because you wouldn't sleep with me otherwise, and then he said you'd only pick me over him if you were pregnant with my kid. I wasn't going to let him accuse me of doing something as illegal as that, and I wasn't going to let him say anything negative about what we have. I couldn't stand it, Rachel...I'm sorry," He said, lowering his head sheepishly. His words shocked everybody, especially with the sincerity of his words that came with his apology.

"Finn, I was the one who wanted to sleep with Noah, and it was wrong, but it was not something he had the intentions of doing when we met up that night. I was the one who provoked it, or it wouldn't have happened otherwise. Noah would never pressure me into doing anything, alright? Now, I'm not pregnant, all right and I'm picking Noah over you because I love him. And because, unlike you, he's mature enough to admit his mistakes," Rachel informed the tall boy as she turned towards him.

"I thought you loved me," Finn asked, lowering his head. His lip was starting to swell and his eyes were starting to bruise up. His nose was bloody and he was holding onto his right arm as if it was causing him terrible pain. "I thought you loved me, Rach, and I thought we were going to be together...after all we've been though, you're going to give us up because of Puck?" He asked, looking up at her with tear filled eyes. And Rachel felt bad, but she couldn't bring herself to be with him anymore.

"I was going to tell you myself, Finn, but apparently Noah felt it was best that he tell you himself. Sam, Mike, can you bring the two of them to the nurse's office? I...I need to talk to Blaine alone. And, honestly, right now I don't really know if I'd like to be around either of them. Fighting is a terrible way to solve problems, you both know how I feel about that," She said, glaring at Finn and Puck each in turn before walking towards the door, this time dragging Blaine along with her. Of course, he was much stronger so he ended up walking along side her.


	11. Chapter 11

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 11**

Rachel Berry had had boys fight over her before.

Jesse St. James had challenged Finn Hudson to a sing-off during sophomore year, during Jesse and Rachel's short-lived, pathetic attempt at a romance that had been solely based on trying to crush Rachel and break her heart, while uniting her with Shelby Corcoran, her mother.

Junior year, Jesse had taken her to the prom when he'd been kicked out of UCLA and she'd gone to the Budget-Prom with Sam Evan and Mercedes Jones. While at the prom, her ex-boyfriend, Finn, had decided that he didn't think how she and Jesse were dating, so he'd started a fist fight right then and there on the dance floor, getting them both rejected from the dance and leaving Quinn Fabray and herself alone without a date.

So, she had had boys fight over her before. A fist fight over her was not something new to occur in her life. It wasn't something that she'd grown accustomed to, but she had seen it before and she understood that sometimes it was just a part of being a teenage girl. What she was not used to was seeing Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman tackled on the ground, rolling around as they tossed punches and kicks at one another. The two best friends had never actually fought one another before with both of them playing an active part.

Even during their two battles over Quinn Fabray, one of them had just sat there and taken the blows in. During their first one, when they'd been in their wheel chairs, Finn had just allowed Puck to take him to the ground and punch him, only trying to defend himself by dodging the punches and get the larger, broader boy off of him. In their second battle, after the baby gate scandal, Puck had idly laid on the ground while Finn tossed punch after punch right at his face, getting the shit beat out of him for sleeping with his girlfriend and getting her pregnant. Puck hadn't even attempted to get Finn off of him, even though he could have knocked Finn out easily.

The fight that had taken place in the locker room that day though, had been their worst brawl of them all. Because both boys were playing an active part in it, and even the people watching the fight, who had witness their conversation before hand, couldn't tell anybody who had started the fight. The word spread around the school faster than anything; all the students being shocked that both boys had played an active part in their fist fight, hurting one another evenly, and that the the fight had been over Rachel Berry. Rachel Berry was not the type of girl who would make two best friends forget their friendship and try to kill one another. If Quinn couldn't do it, then there was no way that Rachel had.

Rumors were flying around the school. Some said that Puck had simply gotten angry with Finn because Finn had been bragging about cheating on Rachel. Others claimed that Finn had attacked Puck for talking about Rachel in a negative fashion. There were a few people who believed that they'd been fighting for a reason that had nothing to do with Rachel. Only the boys who had been around during the fight actually believed and told everybody that it was absolutely true that Finn had snapped because Puck had told him that he and Rachel had had sex over the weekend.

And that just started another round of crazy rumors. Some people said that Puck had once again gotten Finn's girlfriend pregnant. There was a rumor saying that Rachel must be crazy in the sack if the two most sought after boys wanted her. There were a few people who said that Rachel and Puck had secretly been dating for years behind Finn's back.

Nobody seemed to realize the truth. That Rachel and Finn had been engaged, and Rachel had had a choice to make. Did she want to give up her happiness and be with Finn to make him happy? Or did she want to finally start caring about what she wanted?

And she'd made the choice that made her be with the person she loved.

"Rachel, I'm sorry, alright?" Noah Puckerman blurted out at her locker before Glee that day.

She sighed as she turned around, raising an eyebrow at him, swinging her locker shut and allowing herself to lean against it, her arms folded across her chest as she stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I know you wanted to be the one to tell Finn, but I just...he's my best friend, and I thought that I should tell him, because I've been a jerk to him before, and I honestly think that a lot of the shit that's happened to him in his life has been because we became best friends. And I felt like I owed him this. It was stupid, but I just acted without thinking everything-"

Rachel cut him off as she pushed away from the locker and took a step towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him close for a kiss, not caring that students were frantically running around the hallways as they hurried off to their after school events. It didn't matter to her who saw her and Puck. Everybody already knew that Finn and Puck had fought, and now they could know the real reason behind their fight. It had most definitely been because of Rachel Berry, and it was because they both loved her.

"Nothing that happened to Finn was your fault, except for what happened with you and Quinn, alright? And none of it was solely your fault. I'm the one who provoked what happened on Friday night, alright? I wanted you and you know that. I was practically begging you, I'll admit it. I probably seemed very desperate. But that's because I love you and I was absolutely sick of settling for anybody else. You can't blame yourself because of Finn's misfortune. If he had known from the beginning what he'd wanted, I wouldn't have felt the way I once did about him. I would have stayed with you sophomore year and never would have been with him. Or he and I would have been together from sophomore year, because I never would have dated you," She said.

"So, what you're saying," He told her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he rested his forehead against her own, locking eyes with her as best as he could as he spoke in a low, soft, deep little growl sound coming from the back of his throat as he spoke. "Is that it's a good thing Quinn and Finn stayed together sophomore year and Finn led you on, because if not, we might not be standing here right now, with you in my arms, as my girl? Because you might have picked him? Because, if that's what you're saying, I'd like to go thank him and Quinn both for staying together," He said playfully, leaning in and giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Because I couldn't live without doing that," He sighed.

Rachel giggled as her arms wound around his neck, grinning up at him. She loved being in his arms. It was the one place where she always felt safe. As long as he was holding onto her, no slushy facials would come her way. If they were together, she didn't worry about the names that other people called her. The bullying just didn't seem as bad when she was with him, because he made her feel smart, funny, talented, and completely beautiful. She felt perfect in every way when she was with him.

"See? Sometimes one person's trash really is another person's treasure. Now, as much as I'd love to just stand here and kiss you all day long, we really do have to go to Glee, alright? I don't want anymore rumors starting up about me. That's not exactly something I look forward to. They'll probably be saying I skipped because I had a doctor's appointment for the baby," She giggled, unwrapping her arms from him.

He tensed up as she forced his hands from her waist and started to walk down the hallway, towards the choir room. She glanced over her shoulder and frowned at him in confusion.

"What's the matter?" She wondered.

"I didn't use a...you know," He frowned.

"It's okay," She shrugged it off.

"What do you mean it's okay?"

"You never do."

"That makes it even-"

"I'm on the pill, alright?"

"That doesn't protect you-"

"I trust you."

"What?"

"You told me once that you hadn't slept with anybody since you and I broke up."

"Yeah."

"That was over the summer."

"So?"

"So, I believed you. And I doubt you've slept with anybody since then."

"That doesn't mean I'm-"

"People would have known. You would have found out. Now stop worrying and let's go," She rolled her eyes.

* * *

"I'm leaving," Finn announced as Rachel and Puck entered the choir room, hand in hand. "I refuse to be around him when he's with my girl."

"Finn, she's not your girl and she's never been your girl," Kurt sighed, rolling his eyes from his seat in the front.

"She's always been in love with Puck. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out," Quinn sighed.

"And I think it's been just as obvious that he's always loved her," Mercedes Jones pointed out.

"Honestly, he dumped me so he could be a little worthy of her," Santana Lopez replied bitterly.

"They've always been into each other," Tina Cohen-Chang said simply.

"They only broke up because she thought she wanted you," Mike Chang said.

"And that was mostly because she thought he didn't want her," Artie Abrams brought up.

"And he only looked at Quinn the way he did because of the baby," Brittany Pierce shrugged.

"How the hell did Brittany say something so smart?" Blaine Anderson asked.

"She can be smart when she wants to be," Sugar Motta defended.

"Can we get back to the Puck and Rachel conversation?" Rory Flannigan wondered.

"Why do you care so much?" Sam Evans questioned.

"Guys, none of this matters," Rachel reasoned.

"You're right, it doesn't," Puck spoke up, shocking every member of the club with his calmness. "It doesn't matter who Rachel belongs to, because she's not property. And it doesn't matter whether I love her or Finn loves her. We both do, that much is obvious." He shrugged.

"What are you talking about? Puck, you're not making any sense at all," Quinn shook her head, her short, wavy blonde hair fluttering around her pretty face. "Are you high or something?" She wondered.

"I'm not high. I'm saying that it doesn't matter what Finn or I feel about Rachel, because that's already clear-we both love her. All that matters in this situation is what she wants. If we really loved her, we'd just want her happy," Puck shrugged.

"Okay, fine. We'll let her decide who she wants to be with. Yeah, sure, jolly fun and really fair. She freaking picked me over and over again. Why would she suddenly change her mind?" Finn glared, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Finn, what are you getting at?" Kurt sighed. "Please don't further humiliate yourself by saying what I believe you're about to say, because that would embarrass you more than it would anger Puck," He said.

"Well, if she's not pregnant, then why else would she suddenly decide that she wants to be with Puck? He must have gotten her drunk enough to make her want to sleep with him and then he got her pregnant," Finn said.

"Oh, yeah, you're right. You've got me. But, you forgot that I made sure we did it in the hot tub to make sure she got pregnant, just so she'd definitely pick me," Puck said sarcastically.

"Shut the hell up, man. And you know what, the last time you got my girlfriend pregnant, she still picked me over you. So I don't know why you'd just assume Rachel was different," He said.

"I didn't think that! I wouldn't sleep with Rachel unless I was absolutely positive she wanted it, because I love her and I want her to feel happy and comfortable all the time!" Puck snapped.

"You love her? You don't even know her! You've bullied her and thrown things at her. You've made her feel like shit since freshman year. You don't know her so how can you even think you love her?" Finn wondered.

"Do you know how many times you've made her cry? Do you know how many times she's come to me in tears, thinking she wasn't good enough because of something you said? Do you know how many nights I sat with her, listening to her cry and complain about how you treated her, wanting to tell her how I felt, but not doing it because I knew she wanted you, despite what you did to her?" Puck asked darkly.

"He's right," Kurt said, standing up. "Rachel used to call me crying, asking me to give her a make-over, or if I thought she needed a new hair style or if she should die her hair. She was going to get that nose job last year because she thought if she looked more like Quinn, she'd have a chance of getting you back. She may have felt something towards you, but she was never happy," He said.

"Rachel's supposed to be our star. Our beautiful, talented star. From the second she entered this room, she was full of confidence and we all hated her for it and thought she was cocky and arrogant, but we also secretly respected her for it. We were all a little envious of her confidence. But, then you came into the picture and made her question everything about herself," Mercedes spoke up.

"And, frankly, I don't think that's love. Love is when you feel at your best, no matter what. It's not pushing yourself to be more than you can be to try and please the other person. You barely even answered her when she asked if you thought she was hot even though she didn't look like Santana. I mean, how low can you get?" Quinn wondered.

"Why are you all taking his side? Puck stole my fiance. He slept with the girl I was supposed to marry and then had to rub it in my face. He couldn't just let Rachel let me down easy. He had to make sure I knew that she slept with him, while she and I were still together. He had to make sure I was hurting," Finn said, lowering his head.

"That's not what happened at all." Mike Chang spoke up, shocking everybody around him. He never got involved in the stupid drama of the rest of his club. It wasn't something he did. And he never joined in the arguments that came with any of the drama, rumors, or secrets that were a part of the glee club that he enjoyed being in so much. "Puck told you because he wanted you to hear it from him. He wanted to make sure you knew, because in his sick, twisted mind, he thought that made it right for lying about Quinn," He said.

"Finn, honestly, it doesn't matter what happened or why. I love Noah, alright? Do you care about me? Do you care about my happiness? Do you want me to live my life always asking what would have happened? Do you want me to constantly live in regret? No, I didn't think so. Well, I want to be with Noah, and I don't have any doubts in my mind about it. So, please, just stop trying to make this hard on us. We all only have a few more months together before we graduate and I don't want to spend them arguing. I want to spend them being friends," She whispered.

"Fine, Rachel. I'll do it for you. Because I'll always love you," He sighed, lowering his head in defeat.


	12. Chapter 12

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 12  
_A/N: So, I've got some questions for you guys. Originally, I was thinking of only making this story about 15 chapters. But, if you guys want me to continue with it, I'll make it go to the end of senior year. I'm going to make my decision by the 14th chapter, but I want your opinions. Thanks!_  
**

It was about a week later and the entire school knew that Rachel Berry was dating Noah Puckerman. Everybody knew for a fact that Rachel had dumped Finn Hudson, who she'd been engaged to, to be with Puck. It was no longer a secret that Rachel had cheated on Finn, sleeping with Puck not even a week after she'd said yes to Finn about the wedding. Surprisingly, nobody was walking around calling Rachel a slut. There was no big ordeal of disbelief or shock when Puck and Rachel had first been spotted kissing in the hallways and there wasn't an uproar when Puck entered school the day after Finn and he had gotten into their fight with Rachel on his arm. So, the couple had figured it was safe for them to be their shelves. The real Puck and Rachel. The ones that only came out at the over pass.

"Say you love me," Puck said quickly, racing up behind his girlfriend and wrapping his arms around her waist, lifting her up slightly as he swung her around, setting her on the ground back where she'd begun as he twirled her to face him, his hands settling on her tiny waist as he pulled her close and gave her a long, gentle kiss.

"You know, you really don't have to make such a big ordeal about it every time you want me to profess your love for me or you decide to kiss me in school. Everybody already knows and they don't need to be forced to look at your constant pubic displays of affection, you know," She sighed, shaking her head as she rolled her eyes up at her tall, strong boyfriend, fighting the amused smile that was making its way across her lips.

"Same old Rachel with all the big words her stupid boyfriend can't understand," Puck sighed, shaking his head as he closed her locker and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her down the hallway towards the choir room for glee.

"You aren't stupid, Noah," Rachel sighed, shaking her head. "You just don't-"

"Please don't give me this speech again? I really don't need to hear it for a second time. So, are we going to hang out tonight?" He wondered, taking the turn to enter the glee room, forcing her to go with him. "Because I'm willing to give up my manliness in order to watch _Funny Girl _with you," He sighed, knowing that offer would make her say yes, even if she hadn't been planning to originally.

What many people didn't understand about Puck was that he wasn't a jerk. HE was actually a really good boyfriend. When Quinn had been pregnant, he had constantly run around in the middle of the night to get her whatever she needed or was craving. He'd always catered to Santana's every single demand, and whenever Mercedes had told him what to do, he'd done it. But, for Rachel? He really did do anything she wanted from him. Even if it meant breaking his code of not sitting through an entire chick flick. He did that constantly for her. And when she mentioned wanting something, he ran to the store and got it for her. He loved her, all in all, so he would do absolutely anything to make sure she knew that. And he'd do anything to make sure he got to spend every minute with her.

"Um, not tonight. I don't think that's a very good idea..."She said quickly, shaking her head. "I'm really behind on homework and I need to start focusing on my audition for NYADA so I think it's better if I'm just by myself tonight," She added on quickly, sensing his entire disposition begin to change.

"You're not pregnant, right?" He muttered as he took a seat in the front row-her favorite-with her at his side.

"No, no, it's most definitely not that. I'm just not feeling right, alright?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she frowned.

He grinned as he leaned in closer to her. Another thing that most people didn't know about Puck was that he was very good at reading girls and figuring out what their problems were. He could read a girl like a book-if he actually read books. Girls were just his thing. He'd always been good at science, anyways, and that was pretty much what he used to base females on. Besides, he had it down to an art when it came to understand how their minds worked and what each facial feature and each tone of voice meant. He was good at it, and people were always coming to him for help when it came to their love lives. But he'd never give his seconds away. He knew how to handle girls, and that was something he refused to give up to anybody else.

"How about I come over later with some frozen yogurt for you," He said softly into her ear. He paid attention to the fact that she was a Vegan, unlike Finn had, had knew that ice cream was something she wasn't a fan of eating, because it was an animal bi-product. So he searched hard for frozen yogurt from her from time to time. "And I'll get your some tampons, too, okay? And we can watch whatever movie you want, and I'll listen to you complain all you want," He told her in a gentle whisper before going back to his original position, loving the shocked look on her face.

"How did you know that?" She asked, her jaw dropping in amazement as she stared at him.

"Are you forgetting that I happen to be _excellent _at understanding girls? And that I've lived with two girls for most of my life. I think I can figure the signs out by now," He winked at her playfully.

"You're incredible..."She sighed, shaking her head. "Alright, come on over tonight," She said, but she couldn't help laughing now.

"I figured as much," He shrugged.

A few minutes went by as the other members entered the club and Rachel gossiped with Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine, said quick hellos to Santana, Brittany, Quinn, and Sugar, waved at the other boys, and shared a smile with Tina as Puck just stared at her. She was beautiful, incredible-everything he could have ever asked for, and he couldn't bring himself to actually believe that she was all his. He watched her with her friends, running a hand through her hair, smiling brighter when she laughed, lowering her head and shaking it when Kurt said something stupid, reaching our and slapping Blaine on the arm when he told a joke, sharing high fives with Mercedes, and Puck wondered once again how long he'd have before everything went south.

"What are you staring at?" Rachel asked as she turned around back towards him with a crease between her eyebrows.

"I think there must be something wrong with my eyes..."He said slowly, a playful grin forming on his face as he watched her. She frowned, displaying her confusion. "I can't seem to take them off of you," He winked.

"You know, you see the thing you're best at is crime, right?" Rachel asked, a teasing smile on her face that showed she wasn't going to let his cheesy little line stand on its own. "That's probably why you and I managed to commit the perfect crime. You stole my heart, and I stole yours," She told him.

"Well, as long as you're heart's the prison, I'm good on being sentenced for life," He said, his arm dangling over the back of her chair.

"You two are giving me a cavity," Kurt Hummel informed them as he leaned forward, popping his head between the couple. "And that's coming from the other half of Blaine and I'm pretty sure it's not possible to be as sickly sweet as we are. Well, I was pretty sure about that, until tonight," He teased them.

"Puckleberry's a much cuter nickname," Puck shrugged.

"I want to know what affect she has on him," Santana Lopez announced from the other side of the room, where she was sitting in the very back row.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asked with a frown.

"I know that she means," Quinn Fabray shrugged.

"I think we all know that she means," Mercedes Jones said.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel whined.

"About how he only smiles when he's with you," Brittany Pierce spoke up.

That was something that not everybody understood about Brittany. She wasn't oblivious. She wasn't stupid. She was actually quite smart. She understood what people were saying, and she could follow a conversation. She was just a little slow sometimes on the update, and she happened to be dyslexic. But she was amazing at understanding people. She was a master at human interactions and relationships. She was a certified genius when it came to understanding what made a person happy and what affected people certain ways. It really didn't shock the glee club anymore when she made her wise comments in her low voice, just as they no longer laughed at all of her silly little side comments that didn't make much sense.

"That's not true," Rachel argued.

"It totally is," Tina Cohen-Chang said.

"I've been one of his best friends since elementary school and I've never seen him smile a real smile until you came around," Mike Chang said.

"He was always with her," Artie Abrams said.

"He was always _around _her," Kurt Hummel corrected.

"But when he was _with _her, he was happy," Santana concluded.

"I wish I'd been here since elementary school," Sam Evans said sadly.

"I feel lost half the time," Sugar Motta agreed.

"Me too," Rory Flannigan added.

"Puck and Rachel have always belonged together, alright? There's no way to doubt it. They were just meant for each other, and as much as it kills me, because I love her and all, I have to admit it. They're perfect for each other. Rachel's more relaxed and Puck's happier. I wouldn't be a good friend to either of them and I wouldn't really love her if I didn't want them to be happy or wish the best for them," Finn sighed.

"Looks like Finn already understood this weeks assignment," Mr. Shue said as he walked in.

"Why are all of our assignments about Rachel lately?" Kurt whined.

"It's not just about Rachel," Mr. Shue said.

"I think Mr. Shue's into her," Brittany said seriously.

"Britt, hush," Santana shushed her.

"This assignment is going to be to find love songs. Songs about people who are just meant to be together. And do a duet. We're going to be searching for a new lead duet pair for Regionals, so our assignments from now on are all going to be duets until we've got it figured out," He said.

As soon as Mr. Shue finished his sentence, Rachel turned towards Puck who turned right back to smile at her. Kurt and Blaine grinned at one another as Sam's eyes made their way towards Mercedes who was sneaking a secret glance at him. Quinn looked hopefully at Finn who gave her a bright, friendly smile. Tina and Mike grabbed each other's hands while Santana and Brittany hooked pinkies in that way they did. Sugar just stared blankly ahead as Rory and Artie both glanced towards her.

"Nope-I'm picking the pairs, sorry guys," Mr. Shue said, shaking his head as he approached the white board and turned it over, revealing the partners.

**_Rachel-Blaine  
Santana-Puck  
Mercedes-Sam  
Quinn-Finn  
Brittany-Mike  
Tina-Kurt  
Sugar-Artie&Rory_**

"Alright, at least I don't have to worry about my girl falling for her partner," Puck said, wrapping an arm around Rachel's shoulders and giving a tight squeeze.

"They dated before," Kurt said, popping his head forward.

"Shit," Puck swore.

"And Blaine realized he was gay," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"That's better," Puck nodded.

"Whereas you happen to be partnered with your ex-girlfriend,"Rachel said.

"They were just sex buddies," Kurt interjected.

"And she's made it known she doesn't mind sleeping with my boyfriends," Rachel ignored him.

"Nothing's going to happen between Santana and me," Puck shook his head.

"How can you be so sure?" She wondered.

"Because she's into Britt, remember?" Puck rolled his eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 13**

Rachel and Blaine were, of course, the first group ready to perform their duet project the next day in rehearsal.

_"Kiss me too fiercely/Hold me too tight/I need help believing/You're with me tonight/My wildest dreamings/Could not foresee/Lying besides you/With you wanting me/And just for this moment/As long as you're mine/I've lost all resistance/And crossed some borderline/And if it turns out/It's over too fast/I'll make ever last moment last/As long as you're mine,"_ Rachel started the song, simple choreography going on with the _**Wicked** _duet she and Blaine were singing. Out of the corner of her eye, she focused on Puck, who was smiling at her with that silly half grin she'd always thought was so stupid, but now was sort of fond of.

"_Maybe I'm brainless, maybe I'm wise/But you've got me seeing, through different eyes/Somehow I've fallen under your spell/And somehow I'm feeling, it's up that I fell," _Blaine's strong voice cut in, taking over for the next verse.

_"Every moment-as long as you're mine/I'll wake up my body, and make up for lost time,"_The sang together, their voices blending in a perfect sort of harmony that sounded even better than when Rachel and Finn combined their voices together. It was obvious to everybody that if they put Blaine and Rachel together for competition, they would be unstoppable.

__"_Say there's no future, for us as a pair," _Blaine belted out by himself before being joined in by Rachel for the next line of the song.

_"And though I may know, I don't care/Just for this moment, as long as you're mine/Come be how you want to and see how bright we shine/Borrow the moonlight until it is through/And know I'll be here holding you/As long as you're mine," _They went on to sing together, pausing for a beat as Blaine studied her facial expression, frowning slightly as he posed the question,

"What is it?" only to earn the response from Rachel which pretty much gave the musical its name.

"It' just...for the first time, I feel...wicked," She said with a little giggle. _  
_

"I object!" Kurt announced, jumping to his feet with a look of complete outrage taking over his face as the song ended.

Shocked faces turned to study him, wondering if he could possibly be jealous that his boyfriend, who was as gay as he was, had sung a duet with Puck's girlfriend, who everybody knew would never be released from the tight hold the bad ass had on her.

"What's the matter, Kurt? Come on, you know that nothing's going to happen between Blaine and I-he's not into me and I'm not into him. That's over and done with. We've tried that before and it didn't work because he's sort of gay, and I'm sort of in love with somebody else, who's just a couple pounds more muscle than he is," Rachel teased, but the hurt in her eyes wasn't hidden from her best friend and her boyfriend.

"I'm not _jealous _that you sang with Blaine, Rachel," Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm _hurt _because I was under the impression that **_Wicked_ **was our thing and nobody else could have it. I mean, we performed _Defying Gravity _way back in sophomore year, and if we'd actually done it at Sectionals, it would have sounded way better with us rocking it as a duet. Then, junior year we sang _For Good _on an actual Broadway stage which was pretty damn awesome. And senior year? We don't have anything yet and you're **_Wicked_**duet was with somebody else. How do you think that makes me feel?" He pouted.

"You are _so _not funny!" Rachel glared at him as she stormed towards her seat besides Puck and dropped into it, crossing her legs and her arms with a scowl on her face.

"You owe me a duet, Rachel Berry," Kurt told her seriously as Blaine shook his head in half amusement and half confusion as he took his seat besides his boyfriend.

"Puckerman and I have our project done as well," Santana announced to the group cheerfully as she jumped to her feet, shocking every member around them. Puck rarely followed through in his assignments, and Santana only did when there was a beneficial reward in it for her for doing so. And even then she waited until the last minute.

Santana walked towards the front of the room, raising her eyebrow as she waited for Puck to come join her. He sighed as he stood up and walked towards her slowly, his eyes locked on Rachel as the music began.

_"That's how much I love you/That's how much I need you/And I can't stand you/Must everything you do make me wanna smile/Can I not like you awhile," _Santana started out the old Ne-Yo and Rihanna duet.

_"But you won't let me/You upset me girl/And then you kiss my lips/All a sudden I forget that I was upset/Can't remember what you did," _Puck sang. Judging by his other solos in the club, it would seem odd to hear him belt out a Ne-Yo song, yet, here he was. And it actually sounded pretty damn amazing.

_"But I hate it.../You know exactly what to do/So that I can't stay mad at you/For too long, that's wrong," _Santana crooned.

_"But I hate it, you know exactly how to touch it/So that I don't want to fuss it/And fight no more, said I despise that I adore you," _Puck went on.

_"And I hate how much I love you boy/I can't stand how much I need you/And I hate how much I love you boy/But I just can't let you go/And I hate that I love you so," S_antana crooned. The irony of their duet was that they each had their own little choreography going on, as they each focused their gaze on their respected partner.

_"You completely know the power that you have/The only one makes me laugh," _Puck sang.

_"Said it's not fair/How you take advantage of the fact/That I love you beyond the reason why/And it just ain't right," S_antana belted.

_"And I hate how much I love you girl/I can't stand how much I need you/And I hate how much I love you girl/But I just can't let you go/BUt I hate that I love you so," _Puck sang, and at last their voices blended together.

_"One of these days maybe you're magic won't affect me/And your kiss won't make me weak/But noone in this world knows me the way you know me/So you'll probably always have a spell on me," _They harmonized together.

_"I hate how much I love you (as much as I need you)/That's how much I need you/That's how much I love you/As much as I need you/And I hate that I love you so/And I hate how much I love you boy/I Can't stand how much I need you (can't sand how much I need you)/And I hate how much I love you boy/But I just can't let you go (but I just can't let you go no)And I hate that I love you so/I hate that I love you so," _Santana ended the song with a few harmonies with Puck added on for the ending.

As soon as the song finished, Puck took a few determined strides towards Rachel, pulled her to her feet, and wrapped her in his arms, giving her a long kiss on the lips.

"I _don't _hate how much I love _you," _He told her in a low growl, his voice directly into her ear as she spoke, causing her to giggle as she pushed him off of her, muttering something about PDA being against school rules. He shook his head as he took a seat besides his girlfriend, loving how crazy she could be.


	14. Chapter 14

**Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 14  
_A/N: I still need your opinion. Do you want this story to continue, or end in the next chapter. My original plan was for it to be about 15 chapters long, but if you want it to keep going, I don't have a problem with writing more for it. _**

It was about a week later when Puck and Rachel were relaxing at her house on a lazy Saturday morning. Mr. Shuester had long since forgotten his idea to have other duet pairs compete against one another upon everybody's insistence that Blaine and Rachel sing what stupid love song power ballad he insisted on them singing at their next competition. Of course, Puck wasn't exactly happy about this arrangement because he didn't like the idea of his girl singing with any other guy, especially when it was a love song, no matter how gay or madly in love with somebody else her partner was. He did have to admit, though, that Santana was right right when she said it could be worse. Her partner could be Finn. Puck knew for a fact that if Mr. Shuester hadn't decided to change up their lead duet couple and had instead kept Rachel and Finn, he would have had a nervous breakdown.

"Hey, Rachel?" Puck asked. They were sitting in the living room at Rachel's house with Puck strumming at his guitar, mindlessly plucking out chords that played a beautiful, lovely melody that was albeit putting Rachel to sleep as she laid across the couch with her legs propped up on Puck's lap. She raised her head and gave him a smile. "Can I sing you something? It was my original plan to sing to you to try and win you over. And it probably would have made Finn kick my ass anyways," he told her with a teasing smile on his face. She grinned excitedly as she curled herself into a ball in her corner of the couch, nodding for him to start with the song. That was the wonder of Rachel Berry.

"_If I could, I would dare/Feed your dreams and starve your fears/If I could light the world/We could sit and watch it burn/We could fall asleep inside the glow/So tell me what I gotta do to win you over/You'll never have to wonder if you need another/You'll never have to wonder if I understand/And every time you reach for me you'll find a hand,"_ Puck started off the song with his smooth, confident voice, eyes locked on his strumming fingers.

_"If I could take you in/Feeling you deep, beneath my skin/Then I could slip away/With you as a poison in my veins/I don't wanna fall asleep alone/And wake up knowing that I died without the_ one."He looked up at Rachel slowly during this verse, giving her a small smile towards the end of it.

The smile was one that Rachel returned back with a bright one of her own.

After all, it wasn't every day she was serenaded privately by the hottest boy in school.

_"So tell me what I gotta do to win you over/You'll never have to wonder if you need another/ You'll never have to wonder if I understand/And every time you reach for me you'll find a hand out/If I could I would dare/Feed your dreams and starve your fears."_ He finished the song out evenly.

"Before you start your whole little speech, I have to tell you something and it's something very important," He said as soon as she opened her mouth. She crossed her arms and pouted at the interruption. He responded by simply shaking his head and chuckling. "You're so adorable," He told her. "Anyways, my mom wants you to come over for dinner tonight." He said.

"Why? I've met her before...and why is that something you have to tell me that's so important? I've met your mom a hundred times before and I'm pretty damn sure that she loves me. And why tonight? I mean...you're just going to stare at me until I shut up, aren't you?" He nodded, confirming her suspicion. SHe glared at him before rolling her eyes. "Alright, will you please continue with your story, rather than try to make it suspenseful, which you are failing at one hundred percent, by the way," She informed him.

"You are so rude to me," He said sadly. "Anyways, she wants you to come over tonight because she can't believe that I've been dating a nice Jewish girl for this long, let alone the fact that said Jewish girl is Rachel Berry. You don't realize how long she's been planning this to happen, do you? SHe already has a book ready with all of our wedding plans. And the wedding will be full of Jewish traditions that neither of us knew existed. Do you know just how much she loves you? And my sister wants you and I to get married before she turned thirteen so that she can still be the flower girl without being too old for that. Do you know how old she is right now? Eleven," He said with a sigh.

Rachel returned his stress with a giggle. "You're nervous about me coming over for the first time as your girlfriend because Becca," She spoke of his mother. "Is already working on planning our ready which neither of us has agreed to or asked the other one about and because Raquel," She brought up his little sister. "Would like us to be married within the next two years so that she could have the honor of being our flower girl? God, you are such a guy sometimes. I honestly don't mind your family's craziness. Do you know how nice it would feel to go there and be fawned over after Carol pretty much accusing me of getting pregnant when we told her about the wedding?" Rachel admitted.

"I thought you said she and Burt were one hundred precent on board with the stupid wedding," He muttered, hating the reminder that Finn had been closer to making Rachel his for ever-and only his forever-then he ever had been. And hating that Finn was brave enough to do what Puck was so terrified to do, despite the ring that he'd bought almost immediately after they'd first gotten together. "But...Ray, are you trying to tell me that you want to marry me-someday, at least?" He asked her, working to change the subject.

"Well...that's not what's important right now," She said quickly, her cheeks turning a bright red that signaled that no matter what she said, she did want to marry him at some point in her life. But she didn't want him to know that, because she was so afraid he'd get scared away. Puck never had been one for commitments before, and this was an awful lot of them to throw around at once.

"What if I made it important right now?" He asked. Rachel flashed him a confused look as he lifted himself off of the couch and brought himself down onto one knee, bringing the ring from his pocket.

Rachel brought a hand to her mouth, gasping in shock.

But when she brought the hand away, she was beaming.

"Rachel, I'm not asking you to marry me after graduation or after Nationals or anything silly like that. I'm asking for the promise that one day, whenever you and I are both ready, you'll marry," He told her.

"Oh, Noah," She whispered. "I'd go and marry you right now, you know? I would run away with you to Vegas or something crazy like that, right now, just so we could be married. I want to marry you, Noah, I really do. Without a doubt in my heart, I want to marry you someday, and I really hope that it's someday soon," She said, a smile on her face even though her eyes were filling with tears.

"COme here," He said, reaching out and pulling her close to him, bringing her onto his lap as they laid there on the ground, his arms wrapped around her tightly as he kissed her neck, listening as she moaned lightly to the feel of his occassional nibbling. "You know...we don't have to be at my place until around six, and your dads are out of the house all day..."He hinted at her, lifting her onto her feet and giving her a long, slow kiss on the lips, his hands bringing her closer to him so she could feel what he wanted.

"Well then, I guess we better go upstairs. Because I'm Noah Puckerman's girlfriend and we've only had sex once in the weeks we've been together. That shit doesn't sound very kosher to me. So we should hurry up so you can screw me repeatedly until we have to get to your house," SHe smiled up at him. He grinned, lifting her up so that her legs wrapped around his torso as he kissed her, carrying her up the stairs like that and into her bedroom, dropping her onto the bed and hopping down next to her, rolling on top of her and working on removing her clothing as quickly as possible. If this was what a relationship with Rachel Berry was going to be like, he couldn't wait for it to last forever.

* * *

Puck had not been exagarrating when he said his mom was planning the wedding already.

Rachel had spent the entire time at the Puckerman's residence listening to Rebekkah Puckerman tell her all the details of a t_raditional _Jewish wedding, before starting to tell Rachel all of the plans she had already made for Puck's wedding.

Rachel did get a few choices in the wedding plans, of course. Such as, she was allowed to select her own maid of honor and her own bridesmaids. She could select the colors worn at the wedding as well. She was allowed to pick out her own dress and her wedding party's dress. She could even do her hair and make-up however she wanted to.

The rest of the wedding? Mrs. Puckerman had decided she would be planning on her own without any help from Rachel or Puck and without asking for either of the couple's consent. Without even bothering to ask either of them if they were planning on getting married-which they were, but they were keeping it a secret. The beautiful diamond ring had been placed on a chain and strung around Rachel's neck with the ring itself tucked under her shirt. This necklace was now replacing the Finn necklace.

It seemed that Rachel always had a different necklace to wear with each school year, and each one showed off her different personality for that year. In Sophomore year she had worn either her Star of David necklace-the one that had starred in Puck's dream about her-or her gold star necklace, showing her as the Jewish girl with big dreams of one day being a star. When she was a junior she was constantly wearing that stupid Finn necklace around her neck, showing her as a girl destined to love a conceited jerk. When they broke up, it was a new star necklace Finn got her for Valentine's day, even though they weren't a couple. And now it would be the ring connecting her to Puck.

Of course, this necklace was, without a doubt, the one that told her story the very best. She wasn't a girl who would do whatever it took to make her boyfriend happy. She did not life to wear his name around her neck as if it were a sign that she could not be with anybody else-a warning to other boys to stay away. While she knew that the necklace was given to show that FInn wasn't ashamed to be her boyfriend, it was clear that he hadn't been thinking about the other affects the necklace could have. She also was more than just a girl who would one day be a big star on Broadway and she was much more than just another teenage Jewish girl with a dream and ambition. But, this ring didn't just make her Puck's girlfriend. It showed that she was now free to be herself and still be loved for it. Of course, she didn't know that Puck had one more surprise for her that night.

"I got you this," He said, reaching across her into the glove compartment and pulling out a long black and gold box.

He handed it to her with a sheepish grin, watching as she slowly lifted the lid off of it and stared down at the silver chain with the silver, diamond studded letters spelling out a name that would shock everybody.

Most people would expect the bad ass to have gotten PUCK printed on the necklace, acting as a warning that nobody was allowed to touch his girl, because she belonged to the bad ass. But Puck knew how Rachel had felt about the Finn necklace doing just that, and Finn had only been a popular guy-not somebody that people were actually afraid of.

A few people would have maybe thought he would have put NOAH on the necklace, because only she was allowed to call him that. It was her own private name for his hot little Jewish American princess to call him, and nobody else besides the only two women he loved who weren't Rachel Barbra Berry. Yet he wouldn't do that, because people would constantly be wondering who the hell's name was on her necklace. He couldn't do that because it would do the same thing the PUCK one would have, once people figured out that NOAH was himself.

So instead he'd settled on buying her one that simply ready PUCKLEBERRY.


	15. Chapter 15

**My Guardian Angel  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 15  
_A/N: Time for the final chapter._  
**

"Hey, Puck, can we talk?" Noah Puckerman groaned as he turned on his heel, slamming his locker shut behind him as he clenched his eyes shut. He opened them to face Finn Hudson who had always had a very rocky friendship with him, even since sophomore year when he'd slept with Finn's girlfriend Quinn Fabray and gotten her pregnant. In all honesty, the whole thing would have been handled much better if Quinn hadn't lied about the baby's father. But, right after the boys had started to mend their broken friendship, Puck had slept with Finn's _fiancee, _taking Rachel Berry as his own girlfriend and eventual bride, tearing their friendship apart at the seems, which were already very fragile. And now Finn wanted to talk, which couldn't be anything good.

"What's up, Finnessa?" Puck asked. It wasn't his brightest idea, since he and Finn were already so estranged, but it was just so _easy _and so god damn fun. Especially how he always got so confused, as if he didn't understand that he was being mocked and insulted. The way he didn't realize that Puck was challenging his masculince was just hilarious, since Finn was about a head taller and had kicked his ass a few times. And besides, the two were _supposed _to be best friends, even though their friendship had been going through rocky periods ever since they decided to join the glee club.

"I want you to know that I don't care anymore. If you want to be with Rachel and she wants to be with you, then go ahead. And I'm giving you both my blessing to just go ahead and be happy. And I get that you don't need that, but I know that both of you, especially you, want me to be okay with it, because you and I? We're supposed to be best friends, and Rachel and I were friends, before we tried to make it something more," Finn said.

"How long did it take you to figure out exactly how to say all that?" Puck asked, a broad, teasing smile breaking out across his face as he reached out and grabbed Finn, pulling him in for the most girl-ish man-hug that McKinley High School had ever seen before.

"A while," Finn admitted a laugh as the friends broke apart and started to walk down the hallway. "So, you really like her, don't you?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, you know what...I actually do. And I don't just like her, Finn. I think I'm actually in love with her," Puck said with a grin.

"What are you going to do, when she graduates? She wants to go to New York, man. I mean...you're not going to try that whole long distance crap, right? Please tell me you're not that stupid," Finn asked as the boys walked to the glee room.

"I don't think anybody's that stupid, Finn. I asked her to...well, not marry me, but promise me that one day, we will, you know? I mean, clearly that doesn't mean very much since she's with me after the promise she made you, but it's giving me a little bit of hope," Puck said sheepishly ducking his head, hiding the small smile that he couldn't help but allow to spread through his face or the slight blush that was coming.

"So you're going to New York with her? What are you going to do there?" Finn asked. Finn wasn't asking to be a jerk. He wasn't asking to make Puck feel like a Lima Loser or to try and cause a fight between Rachel and Puck. And Puck knew that Finn wasn't asking because of that. He knew that Finn was only asking because Finn was barely managing to graduate, so they both knew how unlikely it was that Puck would actually get to graduation, yet alone get into college, since Finn was having an even harder time trying to manage that. He was asking out of concern.

"Dude, I'm dating Rachel Berry. She doesn't give up on people and she doesn't exactly take no for an answer. She's got everything all figured out, and she won't tell me what it is. I'm pretty sure it's going to be something bad-ass, but since I think every little thing she does is bad ass, I'm not really one to talk, am I?" Puck asked as the boys turned and entered the choir room, shocking everybody with their laughter as they took seats besides one another, Puck's arm wrapping around the back of Rachel's chair who was looking on at the two teenage boys with a confused expression on her face which was masked with a little bit of relief that they were no longer giving one another death glares while praying neither she or the other one was watching.

* * *

"Rachel!" Rachel Berry turned around on her heel to see her boyfriend running towards her with a wide grin on his face.

It was a few months after Finn and Puck had become best friends again, and there were only about two months of school left, although it was more like a month and a half. Colleges were starting to send out their acceptances and rejections and Rachel was dreading the outcome of her letter from NYADA after her failure of an audition.

"What's up, babe?" Rachel asked with a grin. Nationals were that weekend and she was extremely tired and strained from all the stress of trying to do her absolute best and making sure the club was perfect, in order to ensure her acceptance on the off chance that Carmen did decide to give her a second chance and come see her and the club perform at their final performance of Rachel's high school career.

"I got into NYU!" Puck said with a broad grin on his face.

"Oh my, god! That's amazing! I am so happy for you," Rachel said brightly, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a tight hug. "That's incredible, Noah, I am so proud of you. I knew you could do it," She said with a smile.

Puck smiled at her as he wrapped an arm around her waist, looking down at her reassuringly. "And you're going to be rocking everybody's world when you get to NYADA. We'll be the ultimate couple in New York, baby," He said, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. "Because you know Carmen's going to show up. She was way too impressed by those first few words to not come see anything more," He grinned.

* * *

Sure enough, right before graduation Rachel received a letter from NYADA, telling her that she had gotten into the school. She squealed loudly as soon as she read it before taking off sprinting down the hallway and towards her boyfriend who was, of course, by the locker room, talking to all of his friends as they discussed their upcoming graduation and separation that none of them actually wanted to have. She grabbed him tightly, jumping into his arms as she kissed him before looking at him, directly in the eyes and smirking, a twinkle in her eyes.

"I got in," She grinned.


End file.
